Forward Deployed Engineer

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

The KLA Services team headquartered in Milpitas, CA is our service organization that consists of Service Sales and Marketing, Spares Supply Chain management, Field Operations, Engineering, Product Training, and Technical Support. The KLA Services organization partners with our field teams and customers in all business sectors to maintain the high performance and productivity of our products through a flexible portfolio of services. Our comprehensive services include: proactive management of tools to identify and improve performance; expertise in optics, image processing and motion control with worldwide service engineers, 24/7 technical support teams and knowledge management systems; and an extensive parts network to ensure worldwide availability of parts.

Job Description/Preferred Qualifications

Key Responsibilities

• Embed with KLA teams — including teams where nobody has written a line of code — and map their highest-friction workflows to AI-automatable solutions
• Ship production agent systems within weeks of starting an engagement; iterate with the team until the system is stable and trusted
• Build executive and business-facing AI tools: email summarization, meeting prep, action item tracking, cross-document intelligence, and presentation assembly from source data
• Build agent wrappers around existing data infrastructure without rewriting source systems
• Help build internal AI infrastructure that removes friction and makes every employee at KLA more effective with AI — not just the technical ones
• Design reusable patterns and components that accelerate every future deployment — what you build once should make the next deployment faster
• Build integration layers that connect enterprise tools into unified AI-ready environments for non-technical users
• Identify and train the local AI champion on every engagement — transfer ownership completely and leave a written playbook
• Contribute implementation patterns and best-known-methods to the team's internal library for citizen developer enablement
• Stay ahead of the model and tooling frontier: track releases from major providers and the agentic orchestration ecosystem, and bring what's relevant back to the team

Qualifications

• Master's Level Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
• 1+ years of experience building and deploying AI/ML systems or data-intensive applications (strong new grads with demonstrated projects considered)
• Strong programming skills in Python; experience with SQL and data pipeline tooling
• Hands-on experience with LLM APIs and agentic orchestration frameworks
• Experience building RAG systems, document ingestion pipelines, and experimenting with model harnesses
• Experience or strong interest in building plugin architectures, skill distribution systems, or extensible tool platforms
• Ability to work across cloud and on-prem environments with an understanding of data governance requirements
• Self-directed and comfortable with ambiguity — you identify problems and solve them without waiting to be told what to do next
• Strong communication skills — able to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and work effectively across organizational levels
• Bias toward action — you ship first, refine second, and learn by doing
• Prior experience in manufacturing, semiconductor, or industrial enterprise environments is a plus
• Familiarity with enterprise data platforms and low-code orchestration tools is a plus

Minimum Qualifications

Master's Level Degree and 0 years related work experience; Bachelor's Level Degree and related work experience of 2 years

Base Pay Range: $94,100.00 - $160,000.00 AnnuallyPrimary Location: USA-MI-Ann Arbor-KLAKLA’s total rewards package for employees may also include participation in performance incentive programs and eligibility for additional benefits including but not limited to: 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.

Interns are eligible for some of the benefits listed. Our pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed reflects the pay for this position in the primary location identified in this posting. Actual pay depends on several factors, including state minimum pay wage rates, location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education level or training. We are committed to complying with all applicable federal and state minimum wage requirements where applicable. If applicable, your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

KLA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. 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 [email protected] or at +1-408-352-2808 to request accommodation.

Be aware of potentially fraudulent job postings or suspicious recruiting activity by persons that are currently posing as KLA employees.  KLA never asks for any financial compensation to be considered for an interview, to become an employee, or for equipment. Further, KLA does not work with any recruiters or third parties who charge such fees either directly or on behalf of KLA. Please ensure that you have searched KLA’s Careers websitefor legitimate job postings.  KLA follows a recruiting process that involves multiple interviews in person or on video conferencing with our hiring managers.  If you are concerned that a communication, an interview, an offer of employment, or that an employee is not legitimate, please send an email to [email protected] to confirm the person you are communicating with is an employee. We take your privacy very seriously and confidentially handle your information.