Systems Engineer, Platform Design & Development

Job Title

Systems Engineer, Platform Design & Development

Role Summary

Design, integrate, and qualify complex semiconductor platforms and optical subsystems. Work on mechanical, opto-mechanical, and optical architectures within wafer processing tools to meet performance, reliability, and manufacturability targets.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams including process, product management, suppliers, and field service to translate requirements into tested, production-ready systems. Role is based in Santa Clara, CA.

Experience Level

Mid-level - typically 4–7 years of hands-on experience in industrial design, integration, and testing of semiconductor equipment platforms and systems.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include system architecture, integration, verification, and supplier qualification for precision platforms and optical subsystems.

• Lead architecture definition, design, integration, and testing of platforms and optical subsystems for semiconductor process equipment.
• Design and integrate precision mechanical, opto-mechanical, and optical components and assemblies (stages, mounts, lenses, illumination, beam delivery, interferometers, coatings, filters, etc.).
• Define and flow down system engineering specifications to meet tool targets for throughput, yield, uptime, and cost of ownership.
• Translate semiconductor process requirements into mechanical, electrical, control, optomechanical, and optical designs working with product and platform teams.
• Lead architecture trade-offs and design reviews, using data to balance performance, cost, reliability, and manufacturability.
• Prototype, integrate, qualify, and verify subsystems including alignment, calibration, and system-level validation.
• Source, evaluate, and qualify components and subsystems with global suppliers to Applied Materials quality and reliability standards.
• Plan and execute validation and reliability testing in compliance with SEMI and internal tool qualification requirements; diagnose and resolve performance degradation and environmental sensitivities.
• Drive design for manufacturability (DFM), serviceability, and cost optimization to enable scalable production and field support.
• Provide onsite and remote support to field service and customer engineering teams, including troubleshooting in fab environments.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and practical experience. Candidates should demonstrate direct, hands-on work on semiconductor platforms and optical/mechanical systems.

• Proven experience with industrial design, integration, and testing of semiconductor equipment platforms for high-precision optical processing, metrology, or inspection.
• Hands-on experience designing/assembling precision mechanical and opto-mechanical components, alignment and calibration procedures, and motion control systems.
• Experience with validation, reliability testing, and compliance to SEMI or equivalent industry standards.
• Ability to lead design reviews, perform trade-off analyses, and work with cross-functional teams (mechanical, electrical, optics, physics, process engineers, electronics, and embedded software).
• Experience qualifying and managing suppliers for critical components and subsystems.
• Strong troubleshooting skills for performance issues in fabrication environments.
• Willingness to travel approximately 10% and provide field support as needed; relocation eligible for this role.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field is required.

About the Company

Company: Applied Materials

Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA, United States

Global leader in materials engineering solutions for the semiconductor and display industries, designing, manufacturing, and servicing equipment used to produce chips and advanced displays worldwide. Enables customers' production of semiconductor devices and display technologies and supports innovations like AI and IoT.