Operations Jobs at KLA with Visa Sponsorship
Operations jobs at KLA span semiconductor equipment manufacturing, supply chain, and process engineering, with positions that require both technical depth and cross-functional coordination. KLA has a consistent track record of sponsoring work visas across multiple categories for Operations professionals, making it a viable target for international candidates in the manufacturing space.
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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.
Group/Division
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
About the Role
We are seeking an AI Engineer to serve as a technical lead within a growing, operations-aligned engineering team. This role is ideal for someone who combines strong hands-on engineering capability with a passion for mentoring others and shaping how teams build and scale AI systems. You will work alongside data scientists and full-stack engineers to deliver AI-powered solutions across internal tooling, customer-facing features, and the supporting data/ML infrastructure. The team is actively shipping; this role focuses on strengthening technical execution, improving system reliability, and elevating overall engineering practices. While there will be opportunities to take on broader leadership responsibilities over time, the primary focus of this role is technical leadership, delivery, and mentorship.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the design, development, and deployment of production AI systems end-to-end
- Contribute hands-on to the codebase and set a high bar for engineering quality
- Establish scalable patterns for evaluation, deployment, and system reliability
- Conduct technical design reviews and guide architectural decisions
- Mentor and develop engineers, providing regular coaching and technical guidance
- Support hiring efforts, including candidate evaluation and onboarding
- Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to align priorities and deliver impactful solutions
- Help translate experimentation into stable, production-ready systems
Preferred Qualifications:
Technical Expertise
- 5–8 years of experience building production software systems
- At least 2 years working with AI/ML or LLM-based solutions in production environments
- Demonstrated ownership of delivering end-to-end AI systems or features
- Strong understanding of modern AI development practices (e.g., evaluation, prompt iteration, system integration)
- Comfortable working across the stack, including data pipelines, model serving, and application layers
- Sound judgment in making technical trade-offs, including build vs. buy decisions
AI / Applied Systems Experience
- Hands-on experience with LLMs, agent-based systems, or generative AI applications
- Familiarity with evaluation frameworks, prompt iteration, and model behavior tuning
- Understanding of limitations and failure modes of AI systems, and how to design around them
- Experience operationalizing AI workflows (e.g., pipelines, monitoring, feedback loops) in real-world environments
Leadership & Mentorship
- Experience serving as a technical lead or senior engineer on a team
- Proven ability to mentor and uplift other engineers
- Strong communication skills, including technical documentation and stakeholder engagement
- Ability to influence decisions and drive alignment without formal authority
- Interest in growing leadership scope over time (optional, not required)
Role Scope
- Primarily a hands-on technical leadership role
- Emphasis on delivery, system quality, and team enablement
- Opportunities to expand into people leadership over time, based on interest and business needs
- Not a research-focused role — emphasis is on applied, production systems
Additional Information
- Periodic travel may be required
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field
- Advanced degree (MS or PhD) preferred, particularly with a focus on AI, Machine Learning, or distributed systems
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; OR equivalent work experience
Base Pay Range: $111,900.00 - $190,200.00 Annually
Primary Location: USA-MI-Ann Arbor-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.
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.
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.
Company Overview
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.
Group/Division
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
About the Role
We are seeking an AI Engineer to serve as a technical lead within a growing, operations-aligned engineering team. This role is ideal for someone who combines strong hands-on engineering capability with a passion for mentoring others and shaping how teams build and scale AI systems. You will work alongside data scientists and full-stack engineers to deliver AI-powered solutions across internal tooling, customer-facing features, and the supporting data/ML infrastructure. The team is actively shipping; this role focuses on strengthening technical execution, improving system reliability, and elevating overall engineering practices. While there will be opportunities to take on broader leadership responsibilities over time, the primary focus of this role is technical leadership, delivery, and mentorship.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the design, development, and deployment of production AI systems end-to-end
- Contribute hands-on to the codebase and set a high bar for engineering quality
- Establish scalable patterns for evaluation, deployment, and system reliability
- Conduct technical design reviews and guide architectural decisions
- Mentor and develop engineers, providing regular coaching and technical guidance
- Support hiring efforts, including candidate evaluation and onboarding
- Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to align priorities and deliver impactful solutions
- Help translate experimentation into stable, production-ready systems
Preferred Qualifications:
Technical Expertise
- 5–8 years of experience building production software systems
- At least 2 years working with AI/ML or LLM-based solutions in production environments
- Demonstrated ownership of delivering end-to-end AI systems or features
- Strong understanding of modern AI development practices (e.g., evaluation, prompt iteration, system integration)
- Comfortable working across the stack, including data pipelines, model serving, and application layers
- Sound judgment in making technical trade-offs, including build vs. buy decisions
AI / Applied Systems Experience
- Hands-on experience with LLMs, agent-based systems, or generative AI applications
- Familiarity with evaluation frameworks, prompt iteration, and model behavior tuning
- Understanding of limitations and failure modes of AI systems, and how to design around them
- Experience operationalizing AI workflows (e.g., pipelines, monitoring, feedback loops) in real-world environments
Leadership & Mentorship
- Experience serving as a technical lead or senior engineer on a team
- Proven ability to mentor and uplift other engineers
- Strong communication skills, including technical documentation and stakeholder engagement
- Ability to influence decisions and drive alignment without formal authority
- Interest in growing leadership scope over time (optional, not required)
Role Scope
- Primarily a hands-on technical leadership role
- Emphasis on delivery, system quality, and team enablement
- Opportunities to expand into people leadership over time, based on interest and business needs
- Not a research-focused role — emphasis is on applied, production systems
Additional Information
- Periodic travel may be required
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field
- Advanced degree (MS or PhD) preferred, particularly with a focus on AI, Machine Learning, or distributed systems
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; OR equivalent work experience
Base Pay Range: $111,900.00 - $190,200.00 Annually
Primary Location: USA-MI-Ann Arbor-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.
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.
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.
See all Operations Jobs at KLA
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Operations Jobs at KLA.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Operations Jobs at KLA
Align your credentials to semiconductor manufacturing standards
KLA's Operations roles typically require hands-on experience with precision equipment manufacturing or supply chain in a highly regulated environment. Document any cleanroom, yield management, or production control experience before applying, as these directly map to KLA's core business.
Target roles that match your visa category's specialty occupation requirement
H-1B eligibility requires a specialty occupation with a directly related degree. Operations titles at KLA range from process engineering to supply chain management, and each carries different degree requirements. Confirm your role qualifies before investing in the application process.
Research KLA's OFLC disclosure data before your interview
DOL publishes Labor Condition Application filings by employer and job title. Reviewing KLA's historical LCA filings for Operations roles gives you a realistic picture of prevailing wage levels and which job titles the company has sponsored, helping you negotiate from an informed position.
Use Migrate Mate to filter KLA's open Operations roles by visa type
Not every Operations posting at KLA is open to sponsorship candidates. Use Migrate Mate to surface only the roles where KLA has indicated sponsorship willingness, so you're not spending interview cycles on positions that won't move your case forward.
Prepare for PERM-related employment verification early
If you're targeting a Green Card pathway through EB-2 or EB-3 from an Operations role, KLA will need to complete PERM labor certification through DOL. Gather education transcripts and prior employment records now, as PERM documentation requirements are strict and delays are common when records are incomplete.
Clarify sponsorship timing during the offer stage, not after
Operations hiring at manufacturers like KLA moves on production and project timelines. Ask the recruiter directly whether the role is approved for visa sponsorship and whether the team can accommodate H-1B transfer or OPT cap-gap periods before you receive an offer, not after.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does KLA sponsor H-1B visas for Operations roles?
Yes, KLA sponsors H-1B visas for Operations positions. The role must qualify as a specialty occupation under USCIS standards, meaning it requires a bachelor's degree or higher in a directly related field. Operations titles tied to engineering, supply chain management, or process control at KLA typically meet this threshold, but it's worth confirming the specific job title's eligibility with the recruiter before progressing.
How do I apply for Operations jobs at KLA?
Applications go through KLA's careers portal at kla.com. Browse listings by function and filter for Operations roles in manufacturing or supply chain. Migrate Mate also aggregates KLA's open Operations positions and flags which roles are open to visa sponsorship candidates, which saves time if you need employer support for an H-1B, TN visa, or OPT extension. Tailor your resume to emphasize semiconductor or precision manufacturing experience.
Which visa types does KLA typically use for Operations professionals?
KLA sponsors multiple visa categories for Operations hires, including H-1B for degree-holding professionals, F-1 OPT and CPT for students transitioning from university programs, TN for Canadian and Mexican nationals in qualifying occupations, and J-1 visa for exchange visitors. For longer-term employees, KLA also initiates EB-2 and EB-3 Green Card sponsorship, which goes through DOL's PERM process before USCIS adjudication.
What qualifications does KLA look for in Operations candidates?
KLA's Operations roles generally require a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, supply chain, or a related technical field. Hands-on experience with semiconductor or advanced electronics manufacturing environments is a strong differentiator. Familiarity with lean manufacturing principles, ERP systems, and yield or quality control processes is commonly expected. Roles with direct equipment or process responsibility may require additional certifications or graduate-level education.
How do visa processing timelines affect Operations hiring at KLA?
H-1B transfers for candidates already in status can proceed without waiting for the April lottery, which accelerates hiring for experienced Operations professionals. New H-1B petitions are subject to the annual cap and October 1 start date, so plan at least six to nine months ahead if you need cap-subject sponsorship. OPT candidates should flag their end date early so KLA's immigration team can initiate H-1B filing within the required window.