Staff Optical Engineer - Milpitas, CA, United States
$141,300 - $207,233 USD yearly
Originally posted 17 September 2026 by the employer.
Join the Broadband Plasma (BBP) division to develop innovative wafer inspection products.
About the role
As a Staff Optical Engineer, you will join a team within the Broadband Plasma (BBP) division responsible for developing innovative wafer inspection products, focusing on the complete design process of one or multiple optical subsystems to support the BBP roadmap. Optics are a core part of BBP products, including high-brightness light-sources, broadband coatings, complex optical subsystems, and high-speed sensors.
What you'll do
- Identify, develop, and document optical system requirements through communication with key suppliers and internal teams.
- Lead or support the proposal of subsystem architecture.
- Translate requirements into optical architecture features, error budgets, and required metrology.
- Conduct feasibility studies through various optical analysis.
- Design new parts, modules, and system integration processes and toolings.
- Test, qualify, and release optics/opto-mechanical modules and entire subsystems.
- Work with suppliers to specify acceptance and improve incoming material quality.
- Lead the resolution of complex problems for both prototype and released systems.
What you'll need
- Solid background in optics, including imaging system aberrations, Fourier optics, polarization, and Radiometry.
- Experience in developing architecture and/or new concepts for optical imaging or measurement systems with high complexity and high precision requirements.
- Experience modeling optical performance of as-built systems through developing error budgets, alignment, and metrology processes for high-precision opto-mechanical assembly and optical systems using CodeV or LightTools.
- Proficiency in MATLAB or Python for image processing and data analysis.
- Doctorate (Academic) Degree and 3 years of related work experience; Master's Level Degree and 6 years of related work experience; or Bachelor's Level Degree and 8 years of related work experience.
Nice to have
- Intellectual curiosity and a desire to acquire new knowledge and skills in multi-disciplinary hardware technologies.
- Detail-oriented, methodical problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
- Effective written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work well with others in either a leading or supporting role.
This role has been open 27 days — well below the 49-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
950
|
Median days open
49 d
|
Median salary
$156k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | KLA Corporation | All employers we track in this specialty (950 roles · 102 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 65 | 950 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 209 | 6119 · 146 employers |
| Median days open | 41 d | 49 d (−8 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $156k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 72 open roles · median 32 d
- KLA Corporation (this employer) · 64 open roles · median 42 d
- Teradyne · 52 open roles · median 26 d
- NVIDIA · 50 open roles · median 67 d
- Applied Materials · 49 open roles · median 62 d
- AMD · 45 open roles · median 47 d
How we counted: 950 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 102 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.
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