System Design Engineer

Job Title

System Design Engineer

Role Summary

Lead development and integration of complex inspection, metrology, or advanced instrumentation systems across optics, electronics, software, and algorithms. Work with cross-functional engineering teams to define system requirements, manage performance budgets, resolve technical issues, and drive products from concept to release.

Experience Level

Mid-level. Position expects 5+ years of relevant experience in complex system development.

Responsibilities

Accountable for system-level design, analysis, integration, and verification to meet product requirements and production readiness.

• Define and manage system requirements, architecture, interfaces, and performance specifications.
• Develop and maintain system error/performance budgets (optical, electronic, thermal, algorithmic, environmental).
• Lead root-cause analysis and resolve performance issues across optical, sensor, electronic, and signal-processing subsystems.
• Specify subsystem requirements for illumination, imaging, sensing, control electronics, and data acquisition.
• Perform trade studies balancing performance, cost, reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability.
• Support system integration, verification, validation, and product release activities.
• Develop system-level test strategies and performance characterization methods.
• Communicate technical findings, risks, and recommendations to leadership and stakeholders.
• Travel as required for integration, field support, or customer work (up to ~10%).

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience necessary to perform the role.

• 5+ years of experience in complex system development in semiconductor equipment, optical instrumentation, electronics systems, aerospace, medical devices, telecommunications, or advanced manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of optical systems, imaging, and photonics fundamentals.
• Knowledge of electronic systems, signal acquisition, and hardware-software interactions.
• Experience with system performance analysis, error budgeting, and sensor/camera/data acquisition technologies.
• Proven ability to translate customer and product requirements into system and subsystem specifications.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills; ability to lead cross-functional technical work.

Nice-to-have / preferred skills.

• Experience with optical inspection, wafer metrology, machine vision, scientific cameras, photodetectors, or semiconductor process control systems.
• Familiarity with precision optics, lasers, detectors, and illumination systems.
• Knowledge of analog/digital electronics, signal integrity, noise analysis, timing, power distribution, and embedded control architectures.
• Experience with FPGA-based systems, high-speed interfaces, data acquisition, real-time control, MATLAB, Python, Zemax, SPICE, or LabVIEW.
• Understanding of EMI/EMC, reliability engineering, and environmental testing.
• Experience using AI-assisted engineering tools for analysis, requirements, and documentation is a plus.

Education Requirements

M.S. or Ph.D. in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field.

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.