Mechanical Engineering Manager - Santa Clara, CA, United States
$163,000 - $224,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 22 September 2026 by the employer.
This role focuses on advanced PVD modules and subsystems.
About the role
This role leads a team of mechanical engineers responsible for the development and sustaining of advanced PVD modules and subsystems. You will combine people leadership, technical strategy, execution ownership, and deep semiconductor equipment expertise.
What you'll do
- Lead and develop a team of mechanical engineers across NPI, sustaining, and customer programs.
- Own mechanical execution of PVD chamber, pedestal, ESC, process kit, wafer handling and vacuum hardware developments.
- Drive architecture decisions balancing performance, manufacturability, cost, reliability and serviceability.
- Lead root-cause investigations for field, manufacturing and customer issues.
- Manage schedules, resource planning, risk management and engineering priorities.
- Coach engineers on GD&T, tolerance analysis, FEA, thermal analysis and design reviews.
What you'll need
- BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline.
- 10+ years semiconductor equipment experience.
- 2+ years technical leadership or people management experience.
- Strong mechanical design background in vacuum systems, RF hardware, thermal management and precision assemblies.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary development programs from concept through customer release.
Nice to have
- Deep PVD experience including process chamber hardware, cathodes, shields, deposition sources, ESCs, pedestals and process kits.
- Experience with advanced packaging, logic or memory applications.
- Knowledge of plasma-material interactions, contamination control, vacuum technology and thermal management.
- Experience with global engineering teams and major semiconductor customers.
- Familiarity with NX, Teamcenter, FEA/CFD tools and product development processes.
This role has been open 19 days — well below the 50-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
940
|
Median days open
50 d
|
Median salary
$158k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Applied Materials | All employers we track in this specialty (940 roles · 103 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 50 | 940 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 154 | 6028 · 146 employers |
| Median days open | 59 d | 50 d (+9 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $158k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 70 open roles · median 30 d
- KLA Corporation · 59 open roles · median 39 d
- Applied Materials (this employer) · 50 open roles · median 59 d
- NVIDIA · 49 open roles · median 65 d
- Teradyne · 48 open roles · median 23 d
- AMD · 43 open roles · median 59 d
How we counted: 940 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 103 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 11 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.