Customer Engagement Applications Engineer

Job Title

Customer Engagement Applications Engineer

Role Summary

Provide technical applications support for KLA wafer inspection tools at customer fabrication facilities. Act as the primary technical interface to customers, leading product evaluations, tool introductions, acceptance tests, recipe development, and hands-on training to ensure successful deployment and operation.

Experience Level

Entry-level (0–3 years of professional experience). Candidates may be recent graduates with a relevant advanced degree or have a Bachelor's degree plus related experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include onsite customer support, technical enablement, and cross-functional coordination.

• Serve as the main technical contact for customers; build trust through consistent, high-quality support.
• Deliver applications support for wafer inspection tools at customer fabs, including acceptance testing and troubleshooting.
• Lead customer engagements: product evaluations, new tool introductions, and competitive analysis.
• Develop recipes, Best Known Methods (BKMs), SOPs, and other technical documentation for field teams.
• Provide hands-on training and pre-sales technical enablement for customers and internal teams.
• Analyze complex technical issues using statistical methods and data-driven approaches.
• Report regional insights, escalate product or field issues to engineering, and collaborate with sales and marketing.
• Co-author technical papers and present findings at industry conferences when applicable.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, work environment readiness, and professional competencies.

• Proven experience in customer-facing technical roles with demonstrated problem-solving and project execution.
• Comfortable working in semiconductor cleanroom environments.
• Strong analytical and statistical reasoning for data-driven decision making.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills; fluent English for email, video calls, and in-person meetings.
• Project management, organizational skills, and the ability to lead cross-functional activities.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build and maintain customer relationships.
• Initiative, accountability, resilience, and adaptability in high-pressure settings.

Education Requirements

Master's degree in Physics, Optics, Engineering, Material Science, or a related field preferred. A Bachelor's degree is acceptable when combined with relevant work experience (example: Bachelor's + 2 years). Semiconductor process knowledge is a strong plus. (Minimum qualifications listed: Master's degree with 0 years related experience; Bachelor's degree with 2 years related experience.)

About the Company

Company: KLA

Headquarters: Chennai, India

KLA is a global leader in diversified electronics for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company enables the production of electronic devices by inventing systems and solutions for manufacturing integrated circuits, wafers, and displays. With over 40 years of experience, KLA invests heavily in innovation and R&D to support advanced chip design and manufacturing process optimization, collaborating with top technology providers to deliver future electronic devices.