Sr. Manager Advanced Process Technology - Milpitas, CA, United States
$205,800 - $308,733 USD yearly
Originally posted 13 October 2026 by the employer.
Lead technology research and strategic development activities within our Plasma Etch organization.
About the role
This role involves advancing business priorities by delivering high-impact work within the Plasma Etch organization, leading technology research and strategic development activities.
What you'll do
- Lead advanced research initiatives focused on emerging plasma etch technologies and semiconductor manufacturing trends.
- Develop long-term technology roadmaps aligned with customer needs and industry requirements.
- Serve as a key technical advisor to engineering teams in the design and development of future etch products and platforms.
- Evaluate evolving customer device architectures, process challenges, and technology inflections to identify new business and product opportunities.
- Provide technical leadership in areas including plasma physics, process development, chamber materials, hardware architecture, and process integration.
- Drive technical assessments of competitive technologies, market trends, and emerging semiconductor manufacturing requirements.
What you'll need
- Demonstrated expertise in plasma etch process development, chamber hardware, and advanced semiconductor device manufacturing.
- Strong understanding of customer technology roadmaps, logic and memory device scaling trends, and semiconductor manufacturing challenges.
- Experience influencing product strategy and technology direction through customer engagement and market analysis.
- Proven track record leading cross-functional technical programs and technology development efforts.
- M.S. or Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, or a related semiconductor discipline.
- 15+ years of experience developing plasma etch equipment, processes, or semiconductor manufacturing technologies.
Nice to have
- Recognized industry expert in plasma etch technologies.
- Experience leading technology teams, research organizations, or advanced development groups.
- Deep knowledge of chamber materials, plasma-surface interactions, RF systems, process integration, and advanced device architectures.
- Experience supporting product commercialization and technology adoption in high-volume manufacturing environments.
Skills: plasma etch, etch process development, chamber hardware, semiconductor manufacturing, technology roadmaps
This role has been open 1 day — well below the 68-day median for Semiconductor Equipment Engineering roles.
Semiconductor Equipment Engineering · Etch Process
|
Open roles in category
55
|
Median days open
68 d
|
Median salary
$168k
|
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 (55 roles · 11 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 5 | 55 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 450 | 9855 · 109 employers |
| Median days open | 34 d | 68 d (−34 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $168k |
Skills observed across this category: plasma etch, etch process development, chamber hardware, semiconductor manufacturing, technology roadmaps
Who's hiring in this category
- Applied Materials · 15 open roles · median 55 d
- Lam Research · 15 open roles · median 68 d
- STMicroelectronics · 6 open roles · median 77 d
- ASM International · 4 open roles · median 40 d
- KLA Corporation (this employer) · 4 open roles · median 44 d
- Micron Technology · 4 open roles · median 129 d
How we counted: 55 open Semiconductor Equipment Engineering (Etch Process) roles from 11 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 14 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 Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.