Optics Research Scientist / Technologist - Singapore
Originally posted 14 January 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role involves driving technology in sensors, sources, and optics within the CTO group. It focuses on the design, development, and manufacturing of advanced optical systems with strategic suppliers.
What you'll do
- Develop a technology roadmap with suppliers to support KLA’s product roadmap.
- Maintain relationships with technology suppliers.
- Ensure technology success from research and development to production.
- Coordinate efforts between the CTO, Divisions, and other teams.
- Support technology prototyping, problem-solving, and risk mitigation.
What you'll need
- Expertise in coatings, including coating designs, processes, and materials.
- Hands-on experience with optical material characterization, thin film coating systems, and technologies.
- Ability to troubleshoot and solve problems.
- Ability to travel up to 10% internationally.
- PhD or MS in Optics, Physics, EE, or a related field with a minimum of 5 years of relevant industry experience.
Nice to have
- Experience in optical inspection and metrology systems.
- Knowledge of DUV/UV optics suppliers and coating equipment manufacturers.
- Familiarity with thin film metrology methods (e.g., Spectroscopy, Ellipsometry, SEM/TEM, AFM, EDS, and XRD) and defect analysis.
- Understanding of photo-contamination control, cleanroom protocols, and optics cleaning/surface preparation techniques.
- Knowledge of lasers, laser damage threshold, and DUV degradation mechanisms.
Skills: optics, lasers, sensors, photonics, CTO, R&D
This role has been open 201 days — well above the 67-day median for Optical/Photonics IC Design roles.
Optical/Photonics IC Design · Photonics
|
Open roles in category
133
|
Median days open
67 d
|
Median salary
$195k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | KLA Corporation | All employers we track in this specialty (133 roles · 33 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 1 | 133 |
| Median days open | 201 d | 67 d (+134 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $195k |
Skills observed across this category: optics, lasers, sensors, photonics, CTO, R&D
Who's hiring in this category
- Lightmatter · 18 open roles · median 81 d
- GlobalFoundries · 16 open roles · median 67 d
- Coherent Corp · 15 open roles · median 75 d
- Lumentum · 9 open roles · median 62 d
- Keysight Technologies · 7 open roles · median 31 d
- Marvell Technology · 7 open roles · median 151 d
How we counted: 133 open Optical/Photonics IC Design (Photonics) roles from 33 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 5 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. Figures refresh nightly.