Technical Support Engineer

KLA is a global leader in diversified electronics for the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. Virtually every electronic device in the world is produced using our technologies. No laptop, smartphone, wearable device, voice-controlled gadget, flexible screen, VR device or smart car would have made it into your hands without us. KLA invents systems and solutions for the manufacturing of wafers and reticles, integrated circuits, packaging, printed circuit boards and flat panel displays. The innovative ideas and devices that are advancing humanity all begin with inspiration, research and development. KLA focuses more than average on innovation and we invest 15% of sales back into R&D. Our expert teams of physicists, engineers, data scientists and problem-solvers work together with the world’s leading technology providers to accelerate the delivery of tomorrow’s electronic devices. Life here is exciting and our teams thrive on tackling really hard problems. There is never a dull moment with us.

The KLA Services team headquartered in Milpitas, CA is our service organization that consists of Service Sales and Marketing, Spares Supply Chain management, Field Operations, Engineering, Product Training, and Technical Support. The KLA Services organization partners with our field teams and customers in all business sectors to maintain the high performance and productivity of our products through a flexible portfolio of services. Our comprehensive services include: proactive management of tools to identify and improve performance; expertise in optics, image processing and motion control with worldwide service engineers, 24/7 technical support teams and knowledge management systems; and an extensive parts network to ensure worldwide availability of parts.

Job Description/Preferred Qualifications

As part of the Product Support Organization (PSO), Technical Support Engineers (TSEs) respond to ongoing technical issues of KLA equipment where field product support teams were unable to solve. Working on challenging problems requires in-depth system knowledge and a sound understanding of operating principles. Exercise judgment within broadly defined practices and policies in selecting methods, and techniques for achieving results. As the need arises, collaborate with specialists and other teams to craft an optimized plan of action to resolve the technical issues and recover equipment functionality to customer satisfaction. Document troubleshooting processes and technical findings to generate service reports and presentations.

The ideal candidate will be a self-starter interested in solving operational and technical problems primarily supporting KLA's new products, as well as working as part of a multi-functional team. 

Estimated travel is between 30-50% once trained and certified.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Coordinate and lead service alert calls with field service engineers and development engineers to help analyze and resolve tool issues.
• Gain engineering-level knowledge and troubleshooting skills of highly complex systems by working with marketing, development engineering, logistics, and field service teams. The systems include optics, electronics, mechanical and pneumatic components, software, and algorithms.
• Standardize solutions that will benefit all customers including defining the best-known methods (BKM).
• Participate in multi-functional product teams with a focus on customer satisfaction and operational excellence.
• Act as a two-way conduit for information transfer between the development engineers and field service teams who provide product maintenance and support.
• Gather and analyze data and logs from the tools to identify sources of systematic issues, including technical, process, facilities, and user errors.
• Help develop and detail technical service procedures for proper knowledge gaining.
• Respond to situations where field service engineers have failed to resolve complicated system performance problems, by providing written plans of action by e-mail, on phone, or at customer sites in the US, Asia, and Europe.
• Writing technical reports to communicate issues, analysis, technical assessments, system status, best-known-methods, and engineering recommendations.
• Backfill or over-support Field Service teams.

Minimum Qualifications

• STEM Bachelor's Level Degree, Master’s Degree Preferred
• 2-5 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience in optical and/or electromechanical systems. Semiconductor capital equipment experience is strongly preferred.
• Previous technical support and experience in system-level troubleshooting, as well as driving multi-disciplined teams to resolve sophisticated problems preferred.
• Ability to quickly diagnose problems through analysis of inspection reports, system log files, system parametric diagnostic data, and other test results, and provide solutions.
• Ability to act independently and with a minimum of planning, drive work to resolution, including post-mortem and standardization actions.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Willing to travel (domestic and international) 30-50% annually.

We offer a competitive, family friendly total rewards package. We design our programs to reflect our commitment to an inclusive environment, while ensuring we provide benefits that meet the diverse needs of our employees.

KLA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer

Be aware of potentially fraudulent job postings or suspicious recruiting activity by persons that are currently posing as KLA employees.  KLA never asks for any financial compensation to be considered for an interview, to become an employee, or for equipment. Further, KLA does not work with any recruiters or third parties who charge such fees either directly or on behalf of KLA. Please ensure that you have searched KLA’s Careers website for legitimate job postings.  KLA follows a recruiting process that involves multiple interviews in person or on video conferencing with our hiring managers.  If you are concerned that a communication, an interview, an offer of employment, or that an employee is not legitimate, please send an email to talent.acquisition@kla.com to confirm the person you are communicating with is an employee. We take your privacy very seriously and confidentially handle your information.