Senior Software Engineer

Base Pay Range: $149,000.00 - $253,300.00 Annually

Primary Location: USA-CA-Milpitas-KLA

KLA’s total rewards package for employees may also include participation in performance incentive programs and eligibility for additional benefits identified below. Interns are eligible for some of the benefits identified below. Our pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed above reflects the minimum and maximum pay for this position in the primary location identified in this posting. Actual pay depends on several factors, including location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education level or training. If applicable, your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Company Overview

KLA is a global leader in diversified electronics for the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. Virtually every electronic device in the world is produced using our technologies. No laptop, smartphone, wearable device, voice-controlled gadget, flexible screen, VR device or smart car would have made it into your hands without us. KLA invents systems and solutions for the manufacturing of wafers and reticles, integrated circuits, packaging, printed circuit boards and flat panel displays. The innovative ideas and devices that are advancing humanity all begin with inspiration, research and development. KLA focuses more than average on innovation and we invest 15% of sales back into R&D. Our expert teams of physicists, engineers, data scientists and problem-solvers work together with the world’s leading technology providers to accelerate the delivery of tomorrow’s electronic devices. Life here is exciting and our teams thrive on tackling really hard problems. There is never a dull moment with us.

Group/Division

With over 40 years of semiconductor process control experience, chipmakers around the globe rely on KLA to ensure that their fabs ramp next-generation devices to volume production quickly and cost-effectively. Enabling the movement towards advanced chip design, KLA's Global Products Group (GPG), which is responsible for creating all of KLA’s metrology and inspection products, is looking for the best and the brightest research scientist, software engineers, application development engineers, and senior product technology process engineers. The LS-SWIFT Division of KLA’s Global Products Group provides patterned wafer inspection systems for high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. Its mission is to deliver market-leading cost of ownership in defect detection for a broad range of applications in the production of semiconductors. Customers from the foundry, logic, memory, automotive, MEMS, advanced packaging and other markets rely upon high-sample wafer inspection information generated by LS-SWIFT products. LS (Laser Scanning) systems enable cost-effective patterned wafer defect detection for the industry’s most sophisticated process technologies deployed in leading-edge foundry, logic, DRAM, and NAND fabs. SWIFT (Simultaneous Wafer Inspection at Fast Throughput) systems deliver all-wafer-surface (frontside, backside, and edge) macro inspection that is critical for automotive IC, MEMS, and advanced packaging processes as well as foundry/logic and memory fabs. LS-SWIFT operates from a global footprint that includes the US, Singapore, India and Germany, and serves a worldwide customer base across Asia, Europe and North America.

Job Description/Preferred Qualifications

What you will be doing:

KLA makes industrial systems that are indispensable for manufacturing of semiconductors.  These systems involve complex hardware, firmware, software, and high-performance compute.

The Systems Software Engineer position we are trying to fill is a core function of software engineering at KLA and has the responsibility for controlling various pieces of hardware that form our system as well as coordinating between them. As a senior member of the team a successful candidate will be expected to 1.) Develop a deep understanding of the system and software architecture. 2.) Mentoring junior team members. 3.) Work with cross-functional teams to develop software for our industry leading inspection products.

Successful candidates will have very strong software engineering skills and will be responsible for software development and maintenance of on-tool, back-end software. The software shall be deployed on sophisticated equipment deployed in the production of cutting-edge semiconductor chips.  The software will be responsible for functions such as control of the machine, as well as diagnostics and calibrations. 

You will be a good fit if you 

• Have domain knowledge in one of the following areas: Instrument Control SW (Robotics, Optics, MEMS), Image Processing, Image Computing. 

• Have demonstrated experience building highly scalable software systems. 

• Have deep conceptual understanding of multi-threaded, multi process and distributed software systems. 

• Previous technical lead experience is a required. 

Essential Skills: 

• Mentor and grow junior engineers from the standpoint of quality of design as well as delivered code. 

• Object Oriented Design & Programing in Java, C# or C++ 

• Distributed systems 

• Scripting languages like Python 

• Data Structures and algorithms 

• Interface protocols for cross language software (example: CORBA, Apache Thrift, gRPC) 

• Asynch programming in Java, C++ or C+ 

Responsibilities:

• Candidate will be responsible for the design, development, testing and roll out of software solutions that enhance the capabilities of the KLA inspection machines. 

• Candidate must possess good communication skills to work with several hardware and software interdisciplinary teams to understand the system/marketing requirements and to map them to software requirements and design. 

• Candidate should (over time) develop deep understanding of how the system works and be able to provide software solutions for critical customer gaps or issues.  

• Candidate should develop and evaluate concepts and designs for the next generation systems by conducting trade-off studies, identifying risk items and suggest mitigation plans. This calls for interest and domain knowledge beyond software in the fields of hardware and systems engineering

• Candidate must work in a geographically distributed team to develop and deliver software solutions. The candidate should be influential in architectural and technology decisions made by senior members of the team and help drive adoption of best industry practices in code health, testing, and maintainability

• Candidate must be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment where communication and collaboration with a large multi-disciplinary team is a significant part of the job.  That is, coding is not the only skill needed for this job.  The candidate is expected to communicate with a variety of stakeholders to understand the requirement and map out a software solution to meet the requirement before implementing the solution. 

• The candidate needs to be instrumental in working closely across sites and building strong partnerships to understand the requirements, as well as validate system design and work with resources to implement and deliver solution. 

• The candiate should mentor junior team members in coding, cross functional interactions with hardware and systems engineers and assisting with proactive unblocking efforts, etc.

Minimum Qualifications

Doctorate (Academic) Degree and related work experience of 3 years; Master's Level Degree and related work experience of 6 years; Bachelor's Level Degree and related work experience of 8 years

The company offers a total rewards package that is competitive and comprehensive including but not limited to the following:  medical, dental, vision, life, and other voluntary benefits, 401(K) including company matching, employee stock purchase program (ESPP), student debt assistance, tuition reimbursement program, development and career growth opportunities and programs, financial planning benefits, wellness benefits including an employee assistance program (EAP), paid time off and paid company holidays, and family care and bonding leave.

KLA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other status protected by applicable law. We will ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us at talent.acquisition@kla.com or at +1-408-352-2808 to request accommodation.