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Silicon Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and you will report to a Silicon Engineering Lead. You will: * Collaborate with the Design, Verification, and Software teams to simulate future silicon ...

$40/hr

SUMMER 2027 SILICON ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP/CO-OP SpaceX seeks extraordinary students to join us for silicon hardware engineering roles in Summer 2027. As a silicon engineering intern, you will work ...

$40/hr

SUMMER 2027 SILICON ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP/CO-OP SpaceX seeks extraordinary students to join us for silicon hardware engineering roles in Summer 2027. As a silicon engineering intern, you will work ...

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Silicon Engineer information

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$39K

$101.8K

$137.5K

How much do silicon engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 11, 2026, the average yearly pay for silicon engineer in the United States is $101,752.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $84,000.00 and $116,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a silicon engineer do?

A Silicon Engineer designs, develops, and tests semiconductor chips and integrated circuits used in electronic devices. They work on various aspects of chip design, including architecture, verification, and fabrication, to optimize performance, power efficiency, and reliability. Silicon Engineers collaborate with hardware and software teams to ensure seamless integration and functionality. Their expertise is crucial in industries like consumer electronics, telecommunications, and automotive technology.

What does a typical day look like for a silicon engineer?

A typical day for a Silicon Engineer often involves a mix of designing new semiconductor components, running simulations and verification tests, reviewing design specifications, and collaborating with colleagues in hardware, firmware, and validation teams. You might spend time analyzing test results, troubleshooting design issues, and participating in meetings to coordinate project milestones. Depending on your team's structure, you could also contribute to documentation or interface with manufacturing teams to resolve production challenges. This role balances independent technical work with frequent cross-functional collaboration to drive projects from concept to final silicon implementation.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a silicon engineer?

To thrive as a Silicon Engineer, you need a strong background in electrical engineering, semiconductor physics, and integrated circuit (IC) design, typically supported by a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with industry-standard tools like Cadence, Synopsys, or Mentor Graphics, and experience with hardware description languages (HDLs) such as Verilog or VHDL are essential, along with relevant certifications when applicable. Strong problem-solving abilities, effective communication, and teamwork skills help in collaborating across multidisciplinary teams. These capabilities enable the successful design, verification, and implementation of high-performance silicon solutions within the fast-paced semiconductor industry.

What is the salary of a silicon engineer?

The salary of a silicon engineer typically ranges from $80,000 to $150,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and company size. Entry-level positions may start lower, while experienced engineers with specialized skills in semiconductor design or fabrication can earn higher salaries.
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Infographic showing various Silicon Engineer job openings in the United States as of September 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% Internship, 87% Full Time, 9% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $101,752 per year, or $48.9 per hour.

High-speed Electrical/Optical Post-Silicon Engineer

San Diego, CA โ€ข On-site

Socket.dev
Network Securityย โ€ขย 1 - 10 employees

$137K - $177K/yr

Other

Posted 16 days ago


Key responsibilities

  • Drive measurements, validation, and debug of high-speed electrical and optical interconnects, including channel characterization and system validation.

  • Lead system bring-up, characterization, margining, and validation activities across reference boards, optical modules, cables, and platforms.

  • Perform PDN measurement and failure analysis, translating lab and field signatures into root cause hypotheses and debug plans.


Job description

Company:

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > ASICS Engineering

General Summary:

Qualcomm Central Hardware Systems (CHS) is seeking a Senior Lead High-speed Electrical/Optical Post-Silicon Engineer to drive handsโ€‘on measurements, validation, and debug of next-generation 224G/448G electrical and optical interconnects. The role spans channel characterization, passive measurements, SerDes validation, PDN debug, and SW/HLOS-driven system validation.

Key Responsibilities
  • High-speed measurements and channel correlation: Plan and drive 224G/448G electrical/optical measurements and channel characterization across package, PCB, connector, cable, optical module, and system channels. Analyze S-parameters, loss, impedance, skew, crosstalk, jitter/noise, reflections, eye margin, and link robustness; correlate bench data to simulations and package/board models.
  • Post-silicon bring-up and system validation: Lead bring-up, characterization, margining, shmoo, stress, compliance-readiness, and SW/HLOS-level validation across reference boards, optical modules, retimers, active/passive cables, and customerโ€‘like platforms. Validate tuning, link training, equalization, calibration, FEC/error counters, and workload traffic patterns.
  • PDN and cross-functional system debug: Drive PDN measurement and failure isolation across self-noise, coupling, rail droop/ripple, sequencing, package/board power delivery, SI/PI, optics, firmware, drivers, clocking, thermal, software workloads, and platform integration. Translate ambiguous lab/field signatures into RCA hypotheses and debug plans.
  • Validation content and automation: Develop automation, data reduction scripts, dashboards, regression flows, and stress content to reproduce, isolate, and prevent electrical/optical/PDN failures.
  • Cross-functional leadership: Work with SerDes PHY, SIPI/PDN, package, PCB, optics, firmware, software, validation, systems architecture, platform, customer engineering, suppliers, and ecosystem partners to drive closure.
Required Qualifications
  • 8+ years of relevant experience in post-silicon, SI/PI, SerDes/DDR, optical, package/PCB, or system validation.
  • Strong fundamentals in highโ€‘speed digital design, SerDes/DDR PHYs, SI/PI, transmission lines, jitter/noise, equalization, channel modeling, and measurement correlation.
  • Handsโ€‘on experience with VNAs, oscilloscopes, BERTs, TDR/TDT, rail probing, spectrum analyzers, optical BER/power test equipment, and precision probing/fixturing.
  • Experience validating and debugging highโ€‘speed links such as DDR, PCIe/CXL, Ethernet, UCIe/chipโ€‘toโ€‘chip, optical module interfaces, retimers, or similar SerDesโ€‘based interfaces.
  • Strong PDN/system debug experience, including rail noise/ripple, droop/coupling, sequencing, package/board PDN behavior, and workloadโ€‘driven power stress.
Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience with 112G/224G/448G-class SerDes, PAM4/PAM6/PAM8 signaling, DSPโ€‘based SerDes, optical module host interfaces, and advanced equalization/calibration.
  • Experience with IEEE Ethernet, DDR, PCIe/CXL, UCIe, or similar highโ€‘speed electrical/optical standards and debug methodologies.
  • Experience with optical/electrical coโ€‘validation, module bringโ€‘up, optical link debug, electricalโ€‘toโ€‘optical correlation, retimer/reโ€‘driver tuning, and link budget closure.
  • Experience with package/PCB test vehicles, socketed and solderโ€‘down platforms, passive/active measurements, and DOEโ€‘based characterization.
  • Experience driving complex customer, supplier, or platform escalations where root cause spans silicon, package, board, firmware, software, thermal, and system conditions.
  • Familiarity with Linux, UEFI, HLOS validation, embedded instrumentation, telemetry collection, and stress workloads.
Experience / Impact
  • Accelerate postโ€‘silicon bringโ€‘up and issue closure for nextโ€‘generation highโ€‘speed electrical and optical interconnects.
  • Improve confidence in 224G/448G channel, package, PCB, optical, PDN, and system readiness.
  • Reduce lateโ€‘stage surprises by connecting measurements, validation content, and design feedback across silicon, package, board, software, and platform teams.
  • Build reusable validation and debug methods that scale across products, suppliers, test vehicles, and customer platforms.
  • Produce concise technical and executive reports covering measurements, findings, risk, RCA status, and recommended actions.
Minimum Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience.
  • Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience.
  • PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience.
  • 4+ years of experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.
  • 4+ years of experience with debugging techniques.

Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may eโ€‘mail disabilityโ€‘accomodations@qualcomm.com or call Qualcomm's tollโ€‘free number found here. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).

EEO Employer: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.

Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.

Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:

$192,000.00 - $288,000.00

The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on salesโ€‘incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer โ€“ and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.

If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.

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