Sr. Systems Design Engineer - Milpitas, CA, United States
$159,500 - $271,200 USD yearly
Originally posted 7 July 2026 by the employer.
optical critical dimension metrology systems
About the role
The Sr. Systems Design Engineer plays a central role throughout product life cycle phases, developing and supporting optical critical dimension metrology systems in the Film and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) Division. The position covers technical evaluation, specifications development, modeling, prototype verification, transfer to manufacturing, and customer ramp support.
What you'll do
- Develop mathematical models based on physical theory and optical principles to represent complex optical systems and derive engineering requirements. - Lead component-level design efforts, build models, conduct analysis, and facilitate design reviews to align on specifications. - Plan and execute prototype testing, verify critical components, subsystems, and modules, and review test reports with cross-functional teams. - Setup and lead engineering teams to resolve product-level issues, supplier challenges, and manufacturing escalations. - Lead development of performance and troubleshooting diagnostics for existing and new metrology products. - Support root cause analysis, create plans of action (POA), guide global engineering teams on execution, and standardize design improvements.
What you'll need
- Doctorate (Academic) Degree with 2+ years of related work experience, or a Master's Level Degree with 5+ years of related work experience. - Background in modeling and simulation using physical theory and optical principles to represent complex optical systems. - Experience diagnosing and resolving system-level issues across optics, electronics, mechanics, software, and algorithms. - Ability to travel up to 25% for on-site support and escalations.
Nice to have
- PhD in Optics, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field. - Experience creating computational models to represent complex optical systems and analyze system behavior under varying conditions.
This role has been open 105 days — well above the 55-day median for Semiconductor Equipment Engineering roles.
Semiconductor Equipment Engineering · Manufacturing Equipment
|
Open roles in category
3898
|
Median days open
55 d
|
Median salary
$126k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | KLA Corporation | All employers we track in this specialty (3898 roles · 82 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 249 | 3898 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 463 | 10066 · 107 employers |
| Median days open | 70 d | 55 d (+15 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $126k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Applied Materials · 674 open roles · median 50 d
- Lam Research · 578 open roles · median 41 d
- Micron Technology · 285 open roles · median 46 d
- KLA Corporation (this employer) · 248 open roles · median 70 d
- ASML · 188 open roles · median 71 d
- ASM International · 165 open roles · median 89 d
How we counted: 3898 open Semiconductor Equipment Engineering (Manufacturing Equipment) roles from 82 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 21 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.