Software 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

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 Broadband Plasma Division (BBP) provides market-leading patterned wafer optical inspection systems for leading-edge IC manufacturing. Logic, foundry, and memory customers depend on BBP products to detect yield-critical defects for process debug and excursion monitoring at advanced process nodes. BBP flagship products include the 29xx and 39xx series which leverage Broadband Plasma technology to capture a wide range of defects with ultimate sensitivity at the optical inspection speeds needed for inline defect monitoring.

Job Description/Preferred Qualifications

Our engineering team develops software and hardware solutions that leverage physical chip design and layout data to enable wafer inspection and defect classification. These solutions are foundational to all KLA optical and eBeam inspection and review tools.

As a software engineer, you will contribute to both frontend and backend applications, and help specify and validate the compute systems that host our solutions across KLA platforms. This role offers the opportunity to work on high-performance computing systems and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including hardware, algorithms, and systems engineering.

Key Responsibilities
Design, develop, and maintain software components for inspection and review tools
Work across the stack, from user interfaces to backend services and system integration
Collaborate with hardware teams to specify and test compute platforms
Optimize performance for compute-intensive applications
Participate in code reviews, testing, and continuous integration efforts

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
MS +0-3 years professional software development experience or BS + 2–5 years experience
Strong proficiency in C++ and experience with high-performance computing
Experience with Linux development environments
Solid understanding of software engineering principles, data structures, algorithms, and design patterns
Excellent problem-solving and communication skills

Preferred Qualifications
Experience with semiconductor or inspection systems
Knowledge of system-level performance tuning and profiling
Exposure to hardware/software co-design or embedded systems

Familiarity with frontend technologies (e.g., JavaScript, React) and backend frameworks

Familiarity with Docker/containerization

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: $114,800.00 - $195,200.00 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 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 caree