System Engineer (Computing)

About the role

Applied Materials' PDC (Process Diagnostics and Control) division designs and manufactures semiconductor inspection and metrology tools, each paired with a dedicated computing platform of servers, storage and networking. The System Engineer defines and delivers the next generation of these platforms, starting from a High-Level Design (HLD) from R&D and ending with a manufacturing-ready product. This is a senior pivot role that owns the structured review process (KO, PDR, CDR, DVR, FDR, ECO), manages technical interfaces with R&D, software, procurement, manufacturing and vendors, and acts as the computing hardware authority.

Key responsibilities

• Analyze HLD documents from R&D and turn computational requirements into hardware specifications (CPU, memory, storage, networking, GPU/AI accelerators).
• Evaluate vendor solutions, issue RFQs, run technical reviews with vendor architects and negotiate customizations.
• Drive the NPI review cycle from KO through PDR, CDR, DVR, FDR and ECO, and define and maintain the Bill of Materials (BOM).
• Write technical deliverables at each gate and resolve technical risks early.
• Run hardware validation plans (benchmarking, stress testing, thermal characterization) and verify drivers, BIOS/firmware and OS performance with R&D and software teams.
• Lead the move from engineering to manufacturing, including production BOM release, and support initial production builds.
• Work with electronics, mechanics and safety engineers, procurement and external integrators, and coordinate with the SPI team on serviceability and component lifecycle.

Required profile

• BSc or BA in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or a closely related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with computing hardware platforms.
• Proven ability to define hardware specifications from functional requirements.
• Experience engaging computing hardware vendors technically and familiarity with structured engineering processes such as PDR/CDR.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Preferred: semiconductor equipment, defense computing, data center or high-tech industrial computing background; GPU/AI accelerator experience; PLM/BOM tools (TeamCenter, Agile PLM); hardware qualification and manufacturing transfer exposure.