Software Engineering Manager

Job Title

Software Engineering Manager

Role Summary

Lead and grow a multidisciplinary software and firmware engineering team responsible for measurement instruments (surface profilers, thin film, sheet resistance, nanoindentation). The role combines people leadership, technical direction, release management, and cross-functional collaboration with hardware, product, manufacturing, and global engineering teams.

Experience Level

Senior — managerial role. Minimum qualifications specify a Bachelor’s degree plus ~8 years relevant experience, or a Master’s/advanced degree with reduced experience; includes people-management or technical-lead experience.

Responsibilities

Manage team delivery, architecture, quality, and cross-team alignment.

• Lead, mentor, and develop software and firmware engineers; set goals, provide feedback, and conduct performance reviews.
• Provide technical direction across embedded firmware, Windows desktop applications (C#/.NET, C++), and measurement/analysis algorithms.
• Plan and execute team scope: estimate work, manage schedules and priorities, communicate risks, and deliver releases on schedule.
• Drive architecture and design decisions through design/code reviews and uphold standards for quality, performance, reliability, and security.
• Recruit and onboard engineering talent and foster an inclusive, collaborative team culture.
• Collaborate with hardware, systems, product management, manufacturing, and customer-facing teams to define requirements and roadmaps.
• Coordinate with globally distributed teams across US, Europe, and Asia on integration, releases, and shared practices.
• Champion responsible adoption of AI/ML and AI-assisted development tools under company security policies and promote root-cause analysis and continuous improvement.
• Occasional travel (<10%) to headquarters, customer sites, or other business locations.

Requirements

Key technical and leadership requirements. Degree details are listed under Education Requirements below.

• Must-have
  • Proven experience leading and mentoring software and firmware engineering teams to deliver complex products.
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals: architecture, data structures, algorithms, design patterns, multithreading, testing and debugging.
  • Hands-on technical breadth: Microsoft .NET and C# for Windows desktop applications; C and C++ including embedded firmware; software architecture for real-time systems.
  • Experience with measurement, data-analysis, or signal/image-processing algorithms.
  • Familiarity with Git, modern development practices, release management, and coding standards.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management across interdisciplinary and global teams.
  • Strong planning, organization, and data-driven problem-solving skills.
• Nice-to-have
  • Experience in semiconductor, metrology, inspection, or scientific-instrument domains.
  • Experience managing multidisciplinary teams spanning firmware, desktop applications, and algorithm development.
  • Experience with Agile/Scrum, AI/ML product delivery, diagnostics/observability, and improving engineering processes and software quality.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree required; typical minimum: Bachelor’s degree plus ~8 years relevant experience. Master’s or advanced degree desired with reduced experience (example: Master’s + ~6 years). Relevant fields: Computer Science, Software, Electrical, Industrial or Manufacturing Engineering, or Physics. Role also expects documented people-management or technical-lead experience (2–3 years at manager/lead level noted).

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.