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Chip Design Jobs in Seattle, WA (NOW HIRING)

Description As part of a very dedicated team you will be at the heart of the chip design effort collaborating with all teams (vertical product model). You own ensuring the quality of the SOC or an IP ...

Description As part of a very dedicated team you will be at the heart of the chip design effort collaborating with all subject areas (vertical product model). You own ensuring the quality of the SOC ...

Description As part of a very dedicated team you will be at the heart of the chip design effort collaborating with all fields (vertical product model). You own ensuring the quality of the SOC or an ...

Design Verification Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$175 - $308.50/hr

Description As part of a very dedicated team you will be at the heart of the chip design effort collaborating with all fields (vertical product model). You own ensuring the quality of the SOC or an ...

Senior Applied AI Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$118K - $163K/yr

As part of Nvidia's applied AI team for chip design, you will have the opportunity to tap into the unlimited potential of AI and change the landscape of the chip industry. Our team operates at the ...

Experience with chip-package co-design or advanced packaging (2.5D/3D). * Familiarity with physical ... design service vendor management or offshore collaboration. * Experience with sign-off through TSMC.

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Showing results 1-20

Chip Design information

See Seattle, WA salary details

$47.8K

$130.4K

$229.4K

How much do chip design jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 17, 2026, the average yearly pay for chip design in Seattle, WA is $130,367.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $95,100.00 and $164,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a chip design?

A Chip Design job involves creating and developing semiconductor circuits used in electronic devices. Engineers in this field work on designing, verifying, and testing integrated circuits (ICs) to ensure performance, power efficiency, and reliability. They use specialized software tools for designing hardware and optimizing functionality. Chip designers collaborate with cross-functional teams to bring new processors, memory chips, or custom ASICs from concept to production. This role is crucial in industries like computing, telecommunications, and consumer electronics.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in chip design?

To excel in Chip Design, a strong background in electrical engineering, digital and analog circuit design, and semiconductor physics is typically required, often supported by a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with electronic design automation (EDA) tools like Cadence, Synopsys, and Mentor Graphics, as well as proficiency in hardware description languages (HDLs) such as Verilog or VHDL, are standard prerequisites. Outstanding problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and the ability to collaborate closely with cross-functional teams set candidates apart. These competencies are essential for designing efficient, reliable integrated circuits and meeting the evolving needs of the semiconductor industry.

What are the typical career progression opportunities in chip design?

Chip Design offers a clear pathway for career growth, starting from entry-level positions such as Design Engineer or Verification Engineer and progressing to roles like Lead Designer, Project Manager, or Technical Architect. As you gain experience and demonstrate expertise, opportunities often open up in specialized areas such as physical design, timing analysis, or system architecture. Many professionals also advance to leadership or managerial positions, overseeing teams or entire design projects. Additionally, working in such a fast-evolving field keeps you engaged with the latest technologies and can provide options to transition into adjacent areas like product management or application engineering.

How much do chip designers make?

Chip designers, also known as integrated circuit designers, typically earn between $80,000 and $150,000 annually, depending on experience, education, and location. Senior roles or those with specialized skills in hardware description languages and CAD tools can earn higher salaries, often exceeding $200,000.

How to get a job in chip design?

To get a job in chip design, candidates typically need a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field, along with strong skills in digital and analog circuit design, hardware description languages like VHDL or Verilog, and familiarity with CAD tools. Gaining experience through internships, projects, or research can improve employability, and advanced roles may require a master's or Ph.D. in a relevant area. Certifications in specific design tools or methodologies can also enhance prospects.

Is chip design a good career?

Chip design is a specialized field within electrical engineering focused on developing integrated circuits and microprocessors. It offers high demand, competitive salaries, and opportunities for innovation, often requiring skills in hardware description languages and familiarity with CAD tools. Career growth depends on technical expertise and industry experience.

What are the most commonly searched types of Chip Design jobs in Seattle, WA?

The most popular types of Chip Design jobs in Seattle, WA are:

What job categories do people searching Chip Design jobs in Seattle, WA look for?

The top searched job categories for Chip Design jobs in Seattle, WA are:

Infographic showing various Chip Design job openings in Seattle, WA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 100% Full Time. Highlights an 89% In-person, and 11% Hybrid job distribution, with an average salary of $130,367 per year, or $62.7 per hour.

Research Engineer, AI for Chip Design

International Recruiting LLC

Bellevue, WA

Full-time

Posted 20 days ago


Job description

Full-time · On-site · San Jose, CA · Austin, TX or Taiwan

About Agentrys

Agentrys is building the next generation of design automation for the semiconductor industry.

Our mission is to enable every engineering organization to build its own self-improving agentic design workforce. Agentrys Studio combines AI agents, engineering knowledge, agent-native tools, advanced models, and continuous learning to automate complex chip-design workflows.

Our team brings deep experience in artificial intelligence, electronic design automation, semiconductor design, GPU-accelerated computing, and production software systems. We work closely with leading semiconductor companies to turn advanced research into technology that improves engineering productivity, design quality, and time to market.

The Role

We are looking for an exceptional Research Engineer to develop new technologies at the intersection of artificial intelligence, agentic systems, GPU-accelerated computing, and Electronic Design Automation.

You will identify important research problems, develop novel algorithms and agent-native tools, build working prototypes, and help deploy them in real semiconductor design environments. Your work may span AI agents, large language models, reinforcement learning, optimization, GPU-accelerated algorithms, verification, analog design, and other areas of chip design automation.

This role is ideal for someone who combines strong research ability with exceptional implementation skills and wants to see their ideas used in production—not remain only in papers or prototypes.

What You'll Do

  • Develop new AI and agentic methods for semiconductor design and verification.

  • Build novel agent-native tools and algorithms designed specifically for autonomous engineering workflows, rather than adapting interfaces built primarily for human users.

  • Develop GPU-accelerated algorithms for computationally intensive design, analysis, search, simulation, and optimization problems.

  • Create tools that expose design state, constraints, actions, feedback, and optimization objectives in forms that agents can reason over and use effectively.

  • Build agents that can understand engineering objectives, use EDA tools, execute multi-step workflows, analyze results, recover from failures, and improve over time.

  • Research and implement techniques involving large language models, reinforcement learning, parallel algorithms, search, optimization, program synthesis, and machine learning for engineering systems.

  • Develop solutions for workflows such as functional verification, analog and custom design, RTL development, synthesis, timing analysis, and physical design.

  • Design rigorous evaluation methods for engineering agents, including problems where design data is private, sparse, or customer-specific.

  • Translate promising research ideas into reliable, scalable product capabilities.

  • Integrate AI systems with simulators, formal tools, design databases, commercial EDA tools, GPU computing platforms, and customer engineering infrastructure.

  • Work directly with semiconductor engineers to understand complex workflows and identify high-impact automation opportunities.

  • Collaborate with research, product, platform, and solutions teams across San Jose, Austin, and Taiwan.

  • Contribute to patents, publications, technical presentations, and the broader development of Agentic Design Automation.

What We're Looking For

  • PhD or master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

  • Strong programming skills in Python and proficiency in at least one systems language such as C++ or Rust.

  • Experience with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX.

  • Demonstrated research or engineering experience in one or more of the following:

  • Electronic Design Automation

  • Semiconductor design or verification

  • Agentic AI or large language models

  • GPU-accelerated or parallel algorithms

  • Reinforcement learning

  • Combinatorial optimization

  • Program synthesis or code generation

  • Formal methods

  • Machine learning for engineering or scientific applications

  • Ability to take an ambiguous technical problem from initial formulation through experimentation, implementation, and evaluation.

  • Strong analytical, software engineering, optimization, and debugging skills.

  • High ownership, intellectual curiosity, and willingness to work across research and product boundaries.

  • Clear written and verbal communication skills.

Particularly Valuable Experience

  • Publications in leading EDA, AI, machine learning, systems, high-performance computing, or computer architecture venues.

  • Experience developing new EDA algorithms, optimization engines, design representations, or domain-specific tools.

  • Experience developing GPU-accelerated algorithms using CUDA, Triton, or related parallel-computing technologies.

  • Experience profiling and optimizing computational workloads across CPUs and GPUs.

  • Experience designing tools or environments for use by autonomous agents.

  • Experience with simulation, verification, synthesis, timing analysis, physical design, analog design, or layout.

  • Experience building agents that interact with tools, codebases, databases, or external environments.

  • Experience with LLM training, post-training, fine-tuning, retrieval, tool use, or evaluation.

  • Familiarity with Verilog, SystemVerilog, assertions, SPICE, TCL, or semiconductor design flows.

  • Experience with commercial EDA tools or production chip-design environments.

  • Experience deploying AI systems in enterprise or security-sensitive environments.

  • A strong record of implementation through research systems, open-source projects, production software, or technical competitions.

Why Agentrys

At Agentrys, you will have the opportunity to:

  • Help define a new category of semiconductor design technology.

  • Invent the agent-native algorithms and tools that will form the foundation of future automated design workflows.

  • Develop GPU-accelerated algorithms that make previously impractical design and optimization workflows possible.

  • Build AI systems that perform complex, consequential engineering work—not just generate recommendations.

  • Work with real semiconductor workflows, tools, and private engineering knowledge.

  • See your research deployed directly with leading chip-design organizations.

  • Work in a small, highly technical team where individual contributions can shape the product and company.

  • Collaborate with colleagues across San Jose, Austin, and Taiwan.

  • Change how chips are designed, rather than focus on only one design or one point tool.