Equipment Department Manager

Keysight is a mission-critical design enablement partner for organizations solving the world’s most complex engineering challenges. With deep engineering expertise and leading design, emulation, and test solutions, our ~16,800 employees help customers in over 100 countries accelerate innovation across communications, automotive, energy, quantum, aerospace and defense, semiconductor, and artificial intelligence markets. Learn more

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Equipment Department Manager

Keysight's High Frequency Technology Center (HFTC) in Santa Rosa, California, is seeking an exceptional Equipment Department Manager to lead a 52-person organization of equipment engineers, an equipment engineering manager, equipment technicians, and technician supervisors. The department supports four semiconductor factories on a 24x7 basis. This leader will scale the team to match rapid factory growth and transform the department's mindset from "fix what is broken" to "keep the fabs up and running." We are looking for a self-directed, strategic leader who effectively leverages the team to identify issues, build solutions, and drive results with minimal direction.

Key Responsibilities

Safety & Quality

* Lead with a zero-incident mindset; enforce safety standards and behaviors across all equipment areas and shifts.

* Maintain process and procedural discipline, and reduce maintenance errors through training, coaching, and standardized work.

Culture Transformation & Vision

* Shift the culture of the organization from reactive repair to proactive reliability, driving significant improvements in equipment uptime and factory output.

* Define and communicate a clear vision for equipment performance, and translate it into goals, metrics, and behaviors across all teams and shifts.

* Lead with integrity, accountability, and trust; build a high-performing team culture that owns outcomes.

Maintenance Strategy & Reliability

* Drive the transition from mostly corrective maintenance to mostly preventive and predictive maintenance, with clear targets and progress tracking.

* Build and sustain preventive maintenance programs, spare parts strategies, and reliability practices that reduce unplanned downtime.

* Use real-time KPIs and data analytics to identify chronic equipment issues, remove bottlenecks, and prioritize improvement efforts.

* Champion Lean practices and structured problem solving focused on uptime, quality, and cost.

Scaling, Training & 24x7 Coverage

* Scale the department's headcount, skills, and structure to match the growth of the factories, with clear hiring and capacity plans.

* Build a rigorous training and certification program that develops technicians and engineers quickly and consistently.

* Strengthen 24x7 coverage across all shifts, ensuring consistent technical depth, handoffs, and escalation paths.

* Set clear expectations; coach supervisors, technicians, and engineers to high standards of accountability, teamwork, and growth mindset.

Stakeholder Partnership Across the Company

* Partner with senior stakeholders overseeing construction, facilities, safety systems, and procurement to plan and deliver equipment installations, capacity expansions, and infrastructure support.

* Represent equipment readiness and constraints to factory operations and senior leadership, and make data-driven recommendations on priorities and trade-offs.

* Engage vendors and suppliers to secure service support, spare parts, and timely equipment delivery.

Budget & Financial Management

* Own the department budget, including operating expenses (OPEX) and capital expenses (CAPEX); forecast, track, and report spending against plan.

* Develop and justify capital plans for new tools, upgrades, and capacity expansions.

* Manage service contracts and vendor agreements to balance cost, response time, and equipment uptime.

* Control spending on consumables and spare parts through usage tracking, inventory management, and cost-reduction initiatives.

* Align budget priorities with factory growth plans and make clear trade-off recommendations to senior leadership.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field (advanced degree preferred), or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years in semiconductor or advanced manufacturing equipment engineering or maintenance, including 5+ years leading managers or supervisors in a shift-based, 24x7 environment.
• Demonstrated success shifting an equipment organization from corrective to preventive maintenance and improving uptime.
• Experience scaling an engineering and technician organization through rapid factory growth.
• Track record of building rigorous training programs and strengthening 24x7 support coverage.
• Proven experience managing department budgets, including OPEX, CAPEX, service contracts, and consumables.
• Working knowledge of semiconductor fab equipment, maintenance management systems, and reliability practices; compound semiconductor experience (GaAs/InP) is a plus.
• Strong leadership presence: executive communication, influence across construction, facilities, safety, and procurement, and the ability to operate independently with sound judgment.

Candidates must be local or willing to relocate to Santa Rosa, CA 

This position requires access to certain goods, software, technology, or technical data subject to U.S. export control laws and regulations. Under these laws and regulations, U.S. persons (which includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees) working for Keysight can access export-controlled items without authorization from the U.S. government. For any individual who is not a U.S. person, Keysight may need authorization from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Commerce, or other appropriate federal agency before the individual can access export-controlled items. Candidates must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S., or protected individual, having authorization from the U.S. government for export-controlled items under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). 

***Keysight is an Equal Opportunity Employer.***

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other protected categories under all applicable laws.

The level of role will be based on applicable experience, education and skills; Most offers will be between the minimum and the midpoint of the Salary Range listed below.

Santa Rosa, CA MIN $167,970-MID $223,960- MAX $279,950

Note: For other locations, pay ranges will vary by region

This role is eligible for Keysight Results Bonus Program 

US Employees may be eligible for the following benefits:

• Medical, dental and vision
• Health Savings Account
• Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life, Accident, Disability insurance
• Business Travel Accident and Business Travel Health
• 401(k) Plan
• Flexible Time Off, Paid Holidays
• Paid Family Leave
• Discounts, Perks
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Adoption Assistance
• ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan)

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