Six Figure Work

Systems Engineer IV

Applied Materials

Company websiteappliedmaterials.com (Applied Materials, opens in new tab)

Base salary $161K  to $221K

Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in Santa Clara, CA

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  • LocationSanta Clara, CA
  • WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
  • Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
  • Last checked (1 h ago) · observed since

About this job

Who We Are


Applied Materials is the global leader in materials science and engineering solutions that are at the foundation of virtually every new semiconductor chip and advanced display in the world. The equipment that we create and service is essential to advancing AI and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation semiconductor chips. Join us and push the boundaries of materials science and engineering in a company at the foundation of the electronics industry. The work we do together advances the world’s technology. 


What We Offer


Salary:

$161,000.00 - $221,000.00

Location:

Santa Clara,CA

You’ll benefit from a supportive work culture that encourages you to learn, develop, and grow your career as you take on challenges and drive innovative solutions for our customers. We empower our team to push the boundaries of what is possible—while learning every day in a supportive leading global company. Visit our Careers website to learn more. 

At Applied Materials, we care about the health and wellbeing of our employees. We’re committed to providing programs and support that encourage personal and professional growth and care for you at work, at home, or wherever you may go. Learn more about our benefits. 

As a Systems Engineer, you’ll design, integrate, and optimize complex systems that drive the semiconductor industry forward. Your expertise in systems thinking and problem-solving is essential as you collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop advanced solutions to intricate processes and writing system specifications. You’ll be responsible for analyzing requirements, defining system architectures, conducting thorough testing, and ensuring seamless integration of subsystems. Additionally, you’ll identify and mitigate risks, confirming that our systems meet the highest quality standards and exceed customer expectations.  

Optical systems engineer to support product development activities of a complex, high performance, optical lithography system with applications in the advanced packaging market.  Contribute in all phases of the product development cycle from customer requirements, system specifications, design, prototyping, verification, validation, manufacturing, install and field support. Requires in-depth technical knowledge and experience in working with advanced optical based products in a volume manufacturing environment within a data driven company culture. Self-motivated to lead team projects requiring multi-disciplinary team members to successful demonstrated results.

Key Responsibilities

  • Be part of an engineering team to identify the scope, constraints and risks for design, fabrication, testing and volume production of advanced optical components for high performance optical lithography system.
  • Use project management skills to lead subsystem and optical assembly projects.  Plan, schedule, monitor, and execute projects by leading cross functional teams to meet success criteria.
  • Collaborate and communicate with suppliers during design of critical optical sub-assemblies.
  • Develop and maintain error budgets and define subsystem level requirements to be characterized and validated during the system alpha testing phase for current and future products.
  • Use customer and system requirements to derive design specifications for subsystems, modules, and components and provide input to design engineers throughout the design process.
  • Define and execute system test plans for prototype acceptance/qualification test of subsystems, modules, and components. 
  • Design and execute experiments (DOE) to validate system error budgets, assess and mitigate system performance risks.
  • Execute system level experiments for concept and feasibility testing of key roadmap HW & SW features.
  • Troubleshoot and root cause complex system level issues in MFG and field.
  • Implement new or improved system diagnostics and calibrations. Validate through testing.
  • Develop and maintain optical metrology HW and SW to enable automated measurement of key performance metrics of optical assemblies.
  • Support system MFG activities and support customer site teams to resolve critical issues during install, qualification, and production use.
  • Support escalations pertaining to manufacturing of optical modules and failure analysis of field return modules.
  • Write and present technical reports summarizing findings and recommending solutions to technical problems.   

Education

  • MS or PhD in Optics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, and/or related fields.
  • 4 - 10 Years of Experience

Qualifications

  • Hands on experience with designing, assembling, calibrating, and using complex opto-mechanical instrumentation or systems that incorporate light sources, optical sensors, lenses, filters, etc.
  • Experience with designing and executing test plans and concept and feasibility studies.
  • Strong troubleshooting skills.
  • Proficient with data analysis and data visualization techniques.
  • Strong programming and/or scripting experience such as Matlab, Python, etc.
  • Ability to perform system and subsystem level SW debugging based on error messages and SW logs.
  • Demonstrated ability to collaborate with others to successfully achieve desired results in timely manner.
  • Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and drive parallel progress.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Image processing experience a plus. 
  • SW automation experience a plus.
  • Claude code and other AI tools experience a plus.
  • Optical metrology development and qualification experience
  • Demonstrated ability to drive technical projects with a multi-disciplinary team to completion.
  • Experience with debugging software issues that may have HW or SW related root causes.
  • Experience with supporting manufacturing and service organizations through training, documentation (procedures, OMS, BKMs, etc.), and troubleshooting.

Additional Information

Time Type:

Full time

Employee Type:

Assignee / Regular

Travel:

Yes, 10% of the Time

Relocation Eligible:

Yes

The salary offered to a selected candidate will be based on multiple factors including location, hire grade, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and with consideration of internal equity of our current team members. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, candidates may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as participation in a bonus and a stock award program, as applicable.

For all sales roles, the posted salary range is the Target Total Cash (TTC) range for the role, which is the sum of base salary and target bonus amount at 100% goal achievement.

Applied Materials is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law.

In addition, Applied endeavors to make our careers site accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact us via e-mail at [email protected], or by calling our HR Direct Help Line at 877-612-7547, option 1, and following the prompts to speak to an HR Advisor. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

Source: Applied Materials on Workday · View original posting (opens in new tab)

Pay in context

This role's base floor ($161,000) is above 37% of the 4,199 Software Engineering roles in California listed on this site; 12 others list the same floor. Their median floor is $176,500; the middle half runs from $149,200 to $204,000.

Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 6, 2026.

This range next to 6 other live Applied Materials roles with the nearest advertised base floor
Chart as a table
This range next to 6 other live Applied Materials roles with the nearest advertised base floor
RolePublished base
Systems Engineer IV (this listing)$161K - $221K
Systems Engineer IV$161K - $221K
Advanced Packaging Integration Engineer$161K - $221K
ElectroPlating Expert$161K - $221K
Systems Engineer - RF Sensors$161K - $221K
Senior RF Systems Engineer$161K - $221K
Hardware (HW) Qualification and Development Support Team (DST) Engineer IV$161K - $221K

Same $100K to $400K scale as every card. All Applied Materials roles · How to read the bar

Observed changes

  1. First observed on the employer's board
  2. Began meeting the published-salary criteria
Observed since
Employer-stated posting date
2026-09-14
Where this pay comes from

Location as the employer wrote it: Santa Clara,CA

$161,000.00 - $221,000.00

Method
Employer text, read with fixed rules and re-verified
Checked
Rule set
us-base-v2

The pay passage appears in the employer's own job text. Fixed, deterministic rules located it, and the passage below was checked against the stored copy of the posting.

What we verified

  • The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
  • The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
  • The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.

We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.