Sr. Manager Advanced Process Technology

In this role, you will play a key part in advancing business priorities by delivering high-impact work across your area of expertise. KLA is seeking a highly accomplished Sr. to lead technology research and strategic development activities within our Plasma Etch organization. This individual will serve as a recognized technical leader responsible for identifying emerging plasma etch technology trends, understanding future customer requirements, and translating market insights into next-generation product strategies.

In this role, you will collaborate closely with engineering, product management, and executive leadership teams to drive technology roadmaps, influence future product architectures, and support the successful launch of advanced plasma etch solutions. Your deep understanding of etch processes, chamber technologies, materials interactions, and semiconductor device scaling will be instrumental in shaping KLA’s future technology direction.

• Lead advanced research initiatives focused on emerging plasma etch technologies and semiconductor manufacturing trends.
• Develop long-term technology roadmaps aligned with customer needs and industry requirements.
• Serve as a key technical advisor to engineering teams in the design and development of future etch products and platforms.
• Evaluate evolving customer device architectures, process challenges, and technology inflections to identify new business and product opportunities.
• Provide technical leadership in areas including plasma physics, process development, chamber materials, hardware architecture, and process integration.
• Partner cross-functionally with R&D, product management, marketing, field applications, and executive stakeholders to define strategic investment priorities.
• Drive technical assessments of competitive technologies, market trends, and emerging semiconductor manufacturing requirements.
• Lead and mentor a team of scientists and engineers while fostering innovation and technical excellence.
• Support new technology introductions and product launches from concept through commercialization.
• Represent KLA with key customers, industry consortiums, technical conferences, and strategic partners.

• Demonstrated expertise in plasma etch process development, chamber hardware, and advanced semiconductor device manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of customer technology roadmaps, logic and memory device scaling trends, and semiconductor manufacturing challenges.
• Experience influencing product strategy and technology direction through customer engagement and market analysis.
• Proven track record leading cross-functional technical programs and technology development efforts.

• Recognized industry expert in plasma etch technologies.
• Experience leading technology teams, research organizations, or advanced development groups.
• Deep knowledge of chamber materials, plasma-surface interactions, RF systems, process integration, and advanced device architectures.
• Strong customer-facing and executive communication skills with the ability to translate technical insights into business strategy.
• Experience supporting product commercialization and technology adoption in high-volume manufacturing environments.

Approximately 20% domestic and international travel.

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, or a related semiconductor discipline.
• 15+ years of experience developing plasma etch equipment, processes, or semiconductor manufacturing technologies.

We provide advanced inspection tools, metrology systems, process solutions, and computational analytics that make electronics possible, tackling complex…