Director – Technical Engagement

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 Customer Engagement (CE) division is a field-based group of technical experts who partner closely with customers to provide a comprehensive portfolio of KLA products that support yield improvement from R&D through high-volume production. The team helps align KLA’s solutions with customer needs, supports product performance, identifies new opportunities and gathers insights to guide future innovation—all while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.

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.

Responsibilities:

The Technical Director in one of our Strategic Business Unit is responsible for directing and leading all product and non-product technology programs targeting early insertion of KLA’s (KLA’s) tools/technologies into our strategic customers advanced technology nodes. The individual will be the primary technical interface to our strategic customer and KLA’s engineering teams and will lead, define and drive our technical engagements across the KLA Defect Inspection portfolio with focus on solving specific yield- and process-related challenges. The successful candidate will work closely with our divisional technical leaders to help create and shape these engagements.

The individual will possess a deep understand of core and beyond core requirements and connect and align customers technology roadmap to KLA’s advanced product roadmap to create the best alignment possible.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership for developing technical strategies and gain alignment with product division GM’s, heads of engineering, and business unit sales
• Lead multidisciplinary, cross-divisional teams toward the achievement of technical and commercial objectives
• Build strong working relationships both internally and externally at all levels within the organization. This will require frequent interaction with KLA’s executive team.
• Find creative ways to continually move the customer relationship and technical engagement forward
• Ability to lead, mentor and develop a team of experience, highly technical engineers that will report to this individual
• Ideal candidate will live in Boise area. ~25% travel required
• Lead strategic roadmap discussions, competitive and red team reviews, track and analyze customer use cases to create new opportunities

Preferred Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD (MS/PhD preferred) with a minimum of 10 years of experience in Semiconductor Fabrication (Yield, Integration, Lithography or related discipline) or in Engineering or Technology in the area of imaging, optics or electro-optics R&D
• Must be a strong customer advocate, listens and understand needs, and can champion needs to internal stakeholders
• Strong management skills; experience hiring and developing high-performance teams; objective setting as an objective and driven leader
• Extensive experience and ties to Fab Process in Lithography, Etch, CMP, Deposition, Yield or Integration
• Semiconductor Technology Expert; understands Logic/IDM roadmaps
• Expert communicator with strong ability to educate customers on KLA’s portfolio of products’ capabilities and strengths and present the value and benefits to the customer
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills, innovative, IP-savvy
• Highly experienced in leading/guiding collaborative communications and strong experience delivering powerful presentations to broad spectrum of customers/personalities
• Demonstrated ability to lead creative, technical, cross-functional teams which resulted in innovative and inventive contributions in his/her field

Minimum Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Doctorate (Academic) with at least 10 years of relevant experience OR
• Master's Level Degree with at least 13 years of relevant experience OR
• Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 15 years of relevant experience

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.

Total Rewards

Base Pay Range: $179,300.00 - $313,800.00 Annually
Primary Location: USA-TX-Austin-KLA

KLA’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.

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.

Equal Opportunity Statement

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.

For additional information, view the US Know Your Rights poster on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website.