When Orit Harosh Eliyahou joined KLA Israel in 1999 as a purchasing buyer, she knew she had found a special company. After more than two decades, Orit has had many development opportunities and a rewarding career with steady promotions in the purchasing, planning and customer acceptance departments. Now, as materials director, she has responsibility for management of customers’ configuration and deliveries across all regions.

Customer “Ambassador” Offers Business Insight

Orit and her team work closely with customers to oversee their configurations. Based on those interactions, she offers insight internally at KLA about product mixes customers require.

Orit also works to align KLA’s sales, manufacturing and shipping and import/export issues to meet customer expectations.

“I feel like a customer ambassador, managing the customer lifecycle and delivering constant analysis to the company,” she says. “I need to know what’s going on at all times and must be prepared to report on any issue, adapt to any situation and take action. I strive to be transparent and honest. It’s important that customers know they can trust me and KLA. I want customers to be satisfied, and ultimately, I want to see KLA’s market share grow.”

Embracing Technology to Advance the Business

Orit knows that anticipating the future of technology is key to KLA’s mission of being indispensable to customers. The team she leads in Israel embraces new technologies to help automate and optimize many facets of reporting such as business intelligence and global operations. Her work has helped offer more understanding of business demand and actions KLA should take to better serve and deliver to customers – and was especially crucial during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“Everyone believed that demand would decrease during the pandemic, yet I analyzed the numbers and projected the increase in demand for electronics which did result because consumers were forced to work and attend school from home,” Orit says.

It’s all about Collaboration and Learning

Throughout her career, Orit has welcomed internal opportunities to develop and strives to help KLA improve and become more efficient.

“I view all KLA employees as people I can collaborate with and learn from,” Orit explains. “I seek out mentors and managers to help me grow and try to keep learning every day.”

Anyone at any level can make a difference, she believes, because KLA’s culture and management encourages and trusts employees to try new things to develop solutions that drive innovation and progress.

And she is especially proud of KLA’s commitment to support and help women develop and grow into leaders.

“My advice to young women is to embrace the special journey you’re on and know that anything is achievable,” she says. “If one door closes, two doors will open. Everything happens for a reason; our failures are part of our success.”

Staying Grounded

Orit’s quest to continually improve and learn is also part of her life when she’s not working.

Her husband, for example, owns and operates a successful Italian restaurant. “We make a great team and try to support each other’s careers,” she says. “Based on my expertise at KLA, I offer advice to my husband about forecasting and how to optimize his business.”

As a busy wife and mother of two daughters, Orit’s family, along with her hobbies of baking, running and reading, keep her grounded.

“I want to be a role model to my children – one wants to be a doctor and one a mechanical engineer,” she says. “I try to be an inspiration on their limitless possibilities. While the journey won’t be easy, I remind them to never give up. Tenacity is part of our DNA.”

Be sure to catch up on our previous employee spotlights in our Opportunity Ahead, Making the World a Better Place and Inclusion for All series, and don’t forget to browse the KLA careers page for the opportunities ahead.