AI Software Engineer - Operations

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

KLA has manufacturing sites worldwide. The Global Operations (GOPS) team, comprised of Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing Engineering, Installation and Quality, builds our leading-edge technology. GOPS partners with KLA's global supply base and design engineering teams to develop new products, working continuously to build better, faster and more cost-efficient solutions.

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.

The AI Software Engineer will design and build AI-driven applications powered by large language models (LLMs), with a focus on integrating AI capabilities into user-facing products. This role emphasizes application development, orchestration, and user experience rather than model training. The engineer will develop scalable backend services, prototype intuitive user interfaces, and enable seamless interaction between users and LLM-based systems.
This position requires a strong blend of software engineering, systems thinking, and practical AI implementation to deliver production-ready solutions that leverage LLM APIs and frameworks.Design and develop end-to-end AI applications that leverage LLMs for business use cases

Responsibilities:

• Build and maintain backend services that orchestrate LLM interactions, prompts, and workflows

• Prototype and develop intuitive user interfaces that enable effective human-AI interaction

• Integrate LLM APIs (e.g., OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic) into scalable applications

• Develop prompt engineering strategies and manage prompt lifecycle for performance and reliability

• Implement retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures using internal and external data sources

• Design data pipelines and connectors to enterprise systems (e.g., databases, APIs, knowledge bases)

• Monitor, evaluate, and improve AI application performance using metrics such as latency, cost, and response quality

• Collaborate with product managers, data scientists, and business stakeholders to translate requirements into AI-enabled solutions

• Ensure responsible AI practices, including privacy, security, and bias mitigation

• Rapidly prototype AI tools and iterate based on user feedback

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

• Minimum three (3) years of professional software development experience

• Strong programming skills in Python, JavaScript, or similar languages

• Experience building AI products using LLM frameworks (e.g., LangChain, Semantic Kernel, LlamaIndex)

• Knowledge of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, FAISS, Azure Cognitive Search)

• Vector database (Milvus) for semantic search, along with a knowledge graph (Neo4j)

• Experience orchestrating multi-step AI workflows or agent-based systems

• Familiarity with enterprise data platforms and integrations (e.g., Snowflake, SAP, APIs, knowledge graphs)

• Experience designing conversational interfaces or chat-based applications

• Understanding of evaluation techniques for LLM outputs (quality, grounding, hallucination mitigation)

• Exposure to prompt optimization, fine-tuning concepts (not necessarily hands-on training)

• Experience deploying scalable microservices architectures

• Strong UI/UX sensibility for AI-driven applications

• Experience working in cross-functional teams delivering production-grade AI solutions

• Familiarity with prompt engineering and LLM interaction patterns

• Experience developing web-based user interfaces (e.g., React, Angular, or similar frameworks)

• Experience working in with or for a global manufacturing company

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: $90,400.00 - $153,700.00 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.

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.