Senior Etch Process Engineer

To make electronics, you need chips, wafers, transistors, reticles, and... To make these, you must see, test and manufacture them at scale-faster and better than ever before. That's where KLA comes in. Whether you're early in your career or an experienced professional, you'll solve complex challenges, work alongside brilliant minds and help shape the future of technology.

Group/Division

The Semiconductor Products and Customers (Semi PC) business unit designs, builds and sells KLA’s product portfolio to help chip manufacturers meet high-quality standards for technologies like AI, data centers, automotive and electronic devices. Our inspection, metrology, and analytics systems detect and monitor defects across logic and memory chips, specialty semiconductors, wafers, reticles, advanced packaging, process equipment and materials. We also develop technologies for specialty processes, IC substrates, and PCB manufacturing, including etch and deposition, component inspection, and imaging and analytics. The SPTS division provides advanced wafer processing solutions-including etch, deposition and vapor-based technologies-designed for R&D through high-volume production. With a global presence and strong customer support network, SPTS helps manufacturers across industries improve performance, yield and cost-efficiency. It also offers comprehensive service and spare parts through a worldwide network of service centers and qualified local agents.

What You'll Do

In this role, you will play a key part in advancing business priorities by delivering high-impact work across your area of expertise.

This role is accountable for the development and optimisation of plasma processes to achieve defined performance, quality, and yield objectives. Working within multidisciplinary teams, the role applies scientific and engineering principles to resolve technical challenges, enhance process capability, and support new product development and customer requirements.

As part of the plasma dicing team, the primary responsibilities of this position include developing plasma etch processes, processing customer wafers using etch demonstration equipment, and documenting the completed sample processing activities.

Additional responsibilities include providing customer technical support, preparing technical reports for internal and external stakeholders, generating intellectual property submissions, and supporting other business units as required.

Occasional domestic and international travel, including to the United States, may be required as part of this role to support customer installations and development activities. Occasional shift work may also be required. Certain roles at KLA may require permits, licenses or other approvals to access specific technologies, systems or information, and obtaining such approvals may form part of the assessment process for the role.

Key Responsibilities

Process Demonstrations

• Develop and demonstrate plasma etch processes to meet agreed specifications.
• Assess results using analytical equipment and relevant software tools.
• Perform process troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
• Provide regular updates to Product Management on demonstration and sample work.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with customers and the global KLA support network.
• Summarise findings through technical reports and presentations.

Process Development

• Develop and optimise processes across SPTS product platforms.
• Plan and execute work safely, efficiently, and to agreed timescales.
• Utilise endpoint detection techniques to enhance process control and performance.
• Conduct long-duration testing for new processes and equipment.
• Contribute to cross-functional projects supporting new products and technologies.
• Prepare technical reports to support patent applications, publications, and conferences.

Field Support

• Develop and optimise SPTS processes to meet customer requirements at customer sites.
• Provide factory-based technical support to field teams and customers.
• Establish and maintain strong customer relationships through effective technical support.

Qualifications and Experience

The successful candidate will have:

• A PhD, Master's degree, or Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline, together with relevant industrial experience. Candidates with equivalent qualifications and hands-on semiconductor process engineering experience are also encouraged to apply.
• Experience of plasma etch processing within a semiconductor environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with semiconductor metrology techniques.
• SEM experience would be advantageous, although training can be provided.
• Knowledge and practical experience of endpoint detection techniques.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• The ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Excellent organisational and time-management skills.

What We Offer

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Share scheme
• Contributory pension scheme
• Cash health plan
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Global bonus plan
• Employee rewards scheme
• Life assurance

Occasional domestic and international travel, including to the United States, may be required as part of this role to support customer installations and development activities. Occasional shift work may also be required. Certain roles at KLA may require permits, licenses or other approvals to access specific technologies, systems or information, and obtaining such approvals may form part of the assessment process for the role.

Minimum Qualifications

About KLA

We provide advanced inspection tools, metrology systems, process solutions, and computational analytics that make electronics possible, tackling complex challenges. From electron and photon optics to machine learning and data analytics, we seek perfection at the most fundamental level of matter in the universe. If you want to make electronics that push industries forward and make the world a better place, join us.

Use of AI Statement

At KLA, our interviews seek to understand your individual skills, problem-solving approach and authentic thinking. To ensure a fair and consistent evaluation, the use of AI, recording tools or other technologies to generate, suggest or provide responses during interviews-whether virtual or in person-is not permitted unless explicitly approved in advance as part of a reasonable accommodation or invited by the interviewer. Use of these tools may interfere with our ability to evaluate your individual qualifications and affect your candidacy. KLA is committed to advancing innovation through responsible AI, and we value candidates who share this mindset.

We offer a competitive, family friendly total rewards package. We design our programs to reflect our commitment to an inclusive environment, while ensuring we provide benefits that meet the diverse needs of our employees.

KLA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.