Electrical Hardware Engineer (m/f/d)
KLA · Weilburg, Germany
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 RAPID division leads the industry in reticle inspection solutions, helping ensure high lithography yields and cost-effective semiconductor manufacturing. Its systems support both mask shops and fabs by detecting defects early in the process, enabling faster, more reliable production.
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.
Join KLA's Reticle Product Division and play a key role in shaping the next generation of electronics platforms for advanced semiconductor metrology systems.
We are seeking a hands-on Senior Electrical Hardware Engineer with deep practical experience across the complete PCB design process—from requirements and architecture through schematic design, layout guidance, prototyping, bring-up, verification, qualification, and manufacturing release. The successful candidate will contribute directly to complex mixed-signal electronics development and work effectively in a fast-paced, highly collaborative engineering environment.
In this role, you will deliver robust electronic designs from concept through production release while collaborating closely with internal engineering teams and an external development partner.
The ideal candidate combines strong technical depth, practical design ownership, sound engineering judgment, and a professional appearance when representing KLA in technical discussions with partners and suppliers.
Responsibilities
- Develop and redesign complex printed circuit boards from requirements and architecture through production release.
- Create and review analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuit designs, including component selection, calculations, simulations, and design documentation.
- Own schematic capture and provide detailed technical guidance for component placement, stack-up, signal integrity, power integrity, grounding, and EMC-compliant PCB layout.
- Perform design reviews and hands-on prototype bring-up, debugging, measurement, verification, validation, and design optimization.
- Define and execute qualification tests and support manufacturing readiness, release documentation, and transfer to production.
- Collaborate closely with an external development partner, providing clear technical direction, reviewing deliverables, resolving engineering issues, and maintaining a professional and constructive working relationship.
- Define system and subsystem requirements for electronic assemblies and interfaces together with systems, software, mechanical, manufacturing, and service engineering teams.
- Lead technical root-cause investigations and implement robust corrective design actions.
- Ensure designs comply with applicable safety, EMC, reliability, and regulatory requirements.
- Create and maintain complete engineering documentation, including specifications, design records, bills of materials, test procedures, and manufacturing documentation.
- Contribute technical expertise to future platform architectures, technology roadmaps, and continuous product improvements.
- Communicate technical concepts, decisions, risks, and results clearly within international and cross-functional teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced mixed-signal electronics design.
- High-speed digital interfaces, signal integrity, power integrity, and embedded control systems.
- High-speed and EMC-compliant PCB layout and routing.
- Sensor signal acquisition and processing.
- Actuator and motion control interfaces.
- FPGA-based systems (Xilinx, Lattice) or DSP-based systems (TI).
- Experience with ECAD tools such as Altium Designer, OrCAD, or Pulsonix.
- MATLAB, Python, or similar tools for simulation and data analysis.
- Good German language skills are highly desirable.
Minimum Qualifications
- Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.
- Minimum 7 years of professional experience in electronics development.
- Mandatory hands-on experience across the complete PCB design process, including requirements definition, architecture, component selection, schematic design, PCB layout guidance and execution, prototype bring-up, debugging, verification, qualification, and manufacturing release.
- Strong practical background in analog, digital, and mixed-signal electronics design and integration.
- Proven ability to use ECAD tools for schematic capture and design review; direct PCB layout experience is strongly valued.
- Demonstrated success in bringing complex electronic products from concept through manufacturing release.
- Experience collaborating closely with external development partners, design houses, suppliers, or contract engineering organizations.
- Professional and credible communication style, with the ability to represent KLA effectively in technical discussions, design reviews, and issue resolution with external partners.
- Experience developing electronics for industrial equipment, machine control systems, automation systems, semiconductor equipment, medical devices, or comparable high-reliability applications.
- Ability to articulate and defend technical positions using sound engineering judgment while remaining open to constructive challenges and alternative approaches.
- Strong analytical, structured, and solution-oriented approach to problem solving.
- Excellent communication skills in English.
- Willingness to travel internationally (up to approximately 10%).
- Valid EU work permit required.
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.
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.
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.