Mixed-Signal Hardware Design Engineer — San Francisco

To make electronics, you need chips, wafers, transistors, reticles, and... To make these, you must see, test and manufacture them at scale—faster and better than ever before. That's where KLA comes in. Whether you're early in your career or an experienced professional, you'll solve complex challenges, work alongside brilliant minds and help shape the future of technology. Group/Division The Semiconductor Products and Customers (Semi PC) business unit designs, builds and sells KLA’s product portfolio to help chip manufacturers meet high-quality standards for technologies like AI, data centers, automotive and electronic devices. Our inspection, metrology, and analytics systems detect and monitor defects across logic and memory chips, specialty semiconductors, wafers, reticles, advanced packaging, process equipment and materials. We also develop technologies for specialty processes, IC substrates, and PCB manufacturing, including etch and deposition, component inspection, and imaging and analytics. The SensArray® division leads in in-situ measurement and process control, helping semiconductor fabs and mask shops optimize yield and efficiency. Its solutions support both R&D and high-volume manufacturing, enabling automated process control (APC) through real-time thermal monitoring and analytics. What You'll Do In this role, you will play a key part in advancing business priorities by delivering high-impact work across your area of expertise. Preferred Qualifications At KLA, we develop advanced sensing and measurement technologies that help enable the world's most sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing processes. As a Mixed-Signal Hardware Design Engineer , you will play a critical role in the development of instrumented wafer products that integrate precision sensors, embedded electronics, power management, communications, and data acquisition technologies into highly constrained environments. This is an opportunity for an engineer who enjoys owning technical problems, making design decisions, and working across disciplines to develop products from concept through production. What You'll Do • Design and develop mixed-signal electrical subsystems for advanced instrumented wafer products. • Define electrical architectures and evaluate design tradeoffs related to performance, power consumption, reliability, manufacturability, and cost. • Develop low-power analog and digital circuitry for sensing, measurement, and embedded applications. • Select and integrate sensors, ADCs, microcontrollers, memory devices, batteries, communication interfaces, and power-management circuitry. • Create schematics and drive PCB/substrate development through design reviews and release. • Develop system-level performance requirements, error budgets, and measurement specifications. • Define calibration strategies and support measurement traceability and accuracy requirements. • Develop and execute validation plans, electrical characterization activities, and design verification testing. • Lead technical investigations, troubleshoot complex hardware issues, and drive root-cause analysis. • Collaborate closely with firmware, systems, mechanical, manufacturing, and product engineering teams throughout the product lifecycle. Required Qualifications • Degree in Electrical Engineering or related technical discipline. • 3+ years of experience designing and developing electronic hardware products. • Experience with mixed-signal circuit design including analog and digital electronics. • Experience developing schematics and supporting PCB design and integration. • Hands-on laboratory experience using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, DMMs, and other test equipment. • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with experience driving technical investigations and debugging efforts using root-cause analysis. • Ability to independently execute subsystem designs with limited supervision. Preferred Qualifications • Experience with precision sensor interfaces and analog front-end design. • Experience with low-power electronics, battery-powered devices, or energy management systems. • Familiarity with SPI, I²C, UART, RF, BLE, or optical communication interfaces. • Experience with PCB design tools such as Altium, OrCAD, Cadence, PADS, or similar platforms. • Experience using simulation and analysis tools such as LTspice, ADS, HyperLynx, MATLAB, or Python. • Experience supporting products through development, qualification, and production release. • Semiconductor equipment, instrumentation, robotics, aerospace, medical device, industrial automation, or embedded hardware experience. What Success Looks Like • Independently owns the design, development, and validation of electrical subsystems. • Drives technical investigations and root-cause analysis for complex engineering challenges. • Makes sound architecture and design tradeoff decisions within their area of responsibility. • Leads small technical projects and coordinates work across multiple engineering disciplines. • Identifies risks early and develops practical solutions to keep projects moving forward. • Contributes as a trusted technical partner within a highly collaborative engineering environment. Why Join KLA You'll work on highly differentiated products that combine electronics, sensing, embedded systems, and semiconductor technology in ways that few companies can offer. This role provides significant technical ownership, exposure to complex multidisciplinary challenges, and the opportunity to directly influence technologies used by leading semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. Minimum Qualifications Doctorate (Academic) Degree and 0 years related work experience; Master's Level Degree and related work experience of 3 years; Bachelor's Level Degree and related work experience of 5 years About KLA We provide advanced inspection tools, metrology systems, process solutions, and computational analytics that make electronics possible, tackling complex challenges. From electron and photon optics to machine learning and data analytics, we seek perfection at the most fundamental level of matter in the universe. If you want to make electronics that push industries forward and make the world a better place, join us. Total Rewards Base Pay Range: $117,800.00 - $172,800.00 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 career growth opportunities and programs, financial planning benefits, wellness benefits including an employee assistance program (EAP), paid time off and paid company holidays, and family care and bonding leave. Interns are eligible for some of the benefits listed. Our pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed reflects the pay for this position in the primary location identified in this posting. Actual pay depends on several factors, including state minimum pay wage rates, location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education level or training. We are committed to complying with all applicable federal and state minimum wage requirements where applicable. If applicable, your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Use of AI Statement  At KLA, our interviews seek to understand your individual skills, problem-solving approach and authentic thinking. To ensure a fair and consistent evaluation, the use of AI, recording tools or other technologies to generate, suggest or provide responses during interviews—whether virtual or in person—is not permitted unless explicitly approved in advance as part of a reasonable accommodation or invited by the interviewer. Use of these tools may interfere with our ability to evaluate your individual qualifications and affect your candidacy. KLA is committed to advancing innovation through responsible AI, and we value candidates who share this mindset. Equal Opportunity Statement KLA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us at  talent.acquisition@kla.com or at +1-408-352-2808 to request accommodation. For additional information, view the US Know Your Rights poster on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website.