The Senior Applications Engineer is responsible for leading the development, validation, and deployment of advanced inspection solutions across Onto Innovation's inspection product portfolio. Serving as a key technical leader within the Product Lifecycle (PLC) Applications Development organization, this role drives product readiness, application innovation, customer adoption, and technology commercialization.

The successful candidate will work closely with Product Development, Systems Engineering, Software, Algorithms, Product Management, Marketing, and Customer-facing organizations to transform emerging technologies into scalable, production-ready customer solutions. This position plays a critical role in New Product Introduction (NPI), strategic customer engagements, application development, competitive benchmarking, and roadmap validation across wafer inspection, advanced packaging, and semiconductor manufacturing applications.

This role operates in a highly collaborative, multinational environment, partnering with engineering teams, field organizations, and customers across North America, Asia, and Europe. The successful candidate must be comfortable working across diverse cultures, time zones, and business environments while supporting global product deployment, customer evaluations, product demonstrations, and strategic business initiatives. The position requires domestic and international travel of up to 30%.

Key Responsibilities

Application Development & Technical Leadership

• Lead development and optimization of advanced inspection recipes for defect detection, classification, process monitoring, and yield improvement applications.

• Design customer-focused workflows that demonstrate product differentiation, manufacturing relevance, and business value.

• Establish and validate Best Known Methods (BKMs) for global deployment across multiple inspection platforms.

• Drive application strategies supporting wafer inspection, advanced packaging, heterogeneous integration, and emerging semiconductor technologies.

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior engineers and cross-functional project teams.

Product Validation & New Product Introduction (NPI)

• Lead application characterization, benchmarking, and qualification activities for new products and roadmap technologies.

• Develop and execute comprehensive validation plans covering sensitivity, accuracy, throughput, nuisance rate, repeatability, and production readiness.

• Define customer-relevant use cases and performance benchmarks for product acceptance.

• Support release readiness reviews and ensure successful product deployment.

• Partner with Product Management and Development teams to influence product requirements and roadmap priorities.

Customer Demonstrations & Strategic Engagements

• Lead technical demonstrations for customers, executive reviews, product launches, and marketing initiatives.

• Develop compelling evaluation workflows that highlight product capabilities and competitive advantages.

• Support strategic customer evaluations, proof-of-concept projects, and competitive benchmark studies.

• Define success criteria and technical evaluation methodologies for customer engagements.

• Serve as a technical expert and trusted advisor during critical customer programs.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with Systems, Optics, Software, Algorithms, Product Management, Marketing, and Business Units.

• Translate customer requirements into actionable product and application requirements.

• Provide structured application feedback that influences technology development and product specifications.

• Coordinate activities across multiple engineering and business organizations to achieve product readiness objectives.

• Represent Applications Engineering in product development reviews and technology planning discussions.

Data Analytics & Performance Optimization

• Analyze inspection, process, and customer datasets to identify optimization opportunities and drive performance improvements.

• Lead machine learning and Automated Defect Classification (ADC) validation initiatives.

• Develop statistical methodologies and data-driven approaches for application optimization.

• Generate performance reports, benchmark analyses, and customer-facing technical documentation.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance product performance and customer productivity.

Documentation, Knowledge Transfer & Training

• Develop application guides, validation reports, best practices, deployment procedures, and technical documentation.

• Establish and maintain global application standards and processes.

• Deliver training programs for engineering teams, field organizations, and customers.

• Lead knowledge-transfer activities supporting global application deployment and product adoption.

• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to organizational capability development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Computer Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical discipline with 5+ years of experience in semiconductor inspection, metrology, applications engineering, process engineering, yield engineering, or related fields.

OR

• Master's degree in a relevant engineering or scientific discipline with 2+ years of industry experience in semiconductor inspection, metrology, applications engineering, process engineering, or related technical fields.

OR

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Computer Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

• Strong understanding of semiconductor manufacturing processes, defect inspection principles, and process control methodologies.

• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems through data-driven analysis.

• Strong written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Experience working effectively in multinational and multicultural environments with geographically distributed teams and customers.

• Ability to collaborate across multiple functions and organizational levels in a fast-paced environment.

• Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally up to 30%.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with semiconductor inspection, AOI, metrology, advanced packaging, process control, or yield enhancement solutions.

• Knowledge of machine learning, image processing, computer vision, and Automated Defect Classification (ADC) technologies.

• Proficiency with analytical and data science tools such as Python, MATLAB, SQL, JMP, or equivalent platforms.

• Experience supporting New Product Introduction (NPI), product qualification, and technology commercialization activities.

• Experience leading customer demonstrations, proof-of-concept evaluations, or strategic technical projects.

• Familiarity with semiconductor manufacturing workflows, process monitoring, and yield improvement methodologies.

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional technical initiatives and influence product direction.

• Experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership across organizations.