Graduate Mechanical Design Engineer

KLA; Newport; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 25 days + holidays

Pension scheme

Cash health plan

Cycle to work

Global bonus plan

Share scheme

Rewards scheme

Life assurance

Job summary

KLA is offering a Graduate Mechanical Design Engineer role based in Newport, UK, starting September 2027 as part of the 2027 Graduate programme. You will join a product design team covering CVD, PVD, or Etch products, delivering mechanical designs and supporting development in a growing semiconductor environment.

Full on‑the‑job training is provided; no prior experience is required. The role includes onboarding, mentor support, and a structured graduate development scheme with opportunities

Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree (2:1) in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• Master’s Degree or semiconductor industry studies are a plus but not required.

Responsibilities

• Designing 3D parts/assemblies using Solid Edge CAD.
• Creating/detailing 2D draft drawings using Solid Edge CAD.
• Creating engineering bills of materials.
• Bill of material cost control.
• Supplier contact and collaboration.
• Building and testing prototypes.
• Leading small projects from concept to implementation.
• Collaborating with other teams across the company.
• Writing technical reports for patent applications and publications.
• Providing regular updates to engineering and operations teams.
• Establishing effective customer and team relationships.
• Working shift patterns in a state-of-the-art manufacturing cleanroom.

Skills

Solid Edge CAD

3D design

2D drafting

Prototype testing

BOM creation

Customer collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering (2:1)

Master’s Degree (desirable)

Tools

MS Office

MATLAB

Job description

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.

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.

Graduate Mechanical Design Engineer

This role will be based in Celtic Lakes. Our new 237,000-square-foot Newport facility provides additional production and customer collaboration spaces, including 25,000 square feet of R&D clean rooms, 35,000 square feet of state-of-the‑art manufacturing space and tool demo areas, all designed to support development of semiconductor process technologies across advanced packaging, power devices, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), radio frequency (RF) and photonics sector technology.

You’ll be joining one of our product design teams covering either our CVD, PVD, or Etch products, providing mechanical solutions from our head office in Newport.

This role is part of our 2027 Graduate programme and will start in September 2027.

If you are looking to establish a career in a fast-growing, award‑winning, global company with a clearly defined career development path this scheme is for you! Following our extensive onboarding and introduction program, you will join our Graduate Development program which includes Technical Classroom training, Soft‑skills training, Team building, corporate responsibility activities and finally placement across all our operations and process teams.

It is not required for you to already have the skills and knowledge to perform the role, full on the job training will be provided through our graduate development scheme. You will then be welcomed into your Team and continue your development supported by your KLA mentor!

Day to day responsibilities include:

• Designing 3D parts/assemblies using Solid Edge CAD

• Creating/detailing 2D draft drawings using Solid Edge CAD

• Creating engineering bills of materials

• Bill of material cost control

• Supplier contact

• Building and testing prototypes

• Leading small projects from concept to implementation

• Collaborating with other teams across the company

• Writing technical reports for patent applications and writing technical papers for publication at conferences, seminars etc.

• Problem solving , trouble shooting and investigating faults on manufacturing process equipment

• Providing regular updates to the engineering and operations teams on progress of project work, where required summarising results in a written report or presentation.

• Establishing both effective customer and team relationships particularly for clear communication of results and ideas

This position will give an opportunity for working some shift patterns to fully utilise our state‑of‑the‑art manufacturing cleanroom. We will seek to give as much notice as possible where shift work is required. KLA will of course provide shift allowance in line with company policy.

KLA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Whilst no experience is necessary, in your application and through assessment you’ll show us you have:

• A passion for learning and development, continuously seeking for new knowledge and learning opportunities.
• A logical approach to provide internal customer solutions with a good attention to detail and foresight and ability to collect, filter and analyse data to build solutions for sophisticated technological problems
• The ability to think creatively of novel but practical solutions to internal customer problems
• Communication skills – You’ll enjoy establishing and maintaining good working relationships with both customers and colleagues.

Your qualifications:

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree (2:1) in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• Applicants with a Master’s Degree or prior experience of studies within the semiconductor industry would be desirable but certainly not a must.
• A good acquaintance with SW tools (MS office, MATLAB) would be advantageous.

What will we offer you?

KLA’s benefits package includes: Annual leave starting at 25 days (plus bank holidays), contributory pension scheme, cash health plan, cycle to work scheme, global bonus plan, share scheme, rewards scheme, life assurance.

Minimum Qualifications

BSc / BEng

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.

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.

We offer a competitive, family friendly total rewards package. We design our programs to reflect our commitment to an inclusive environment, while ensuring we provide benefits that meet the diverse needs of our employees.

KLA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.