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Substrate Design Engineer Layout Jobs (NOW HIRING)

As a Silicon Packaging Design Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in driving the development of ... Familiarity with physical layout aspects of substrate design, including custom layouts, floor plans ...

You will contribute directly to the design, layout, and optimization of rugged, highdensity ... highdensity substrate layout techniques, guiding engineering teams to deliver highquality ...

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Substrate Design Engineer Layout information

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$45K

$120.8K

$185.5K

How much do substrate design engineer layout jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 13, 2026, the average yearly pay for substrate design engineer layout in the United States is $120,849.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $90,000.00 and $144,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a substrate design engineer layout do?

A Substrate Design Engineer Layout is responsible for designing and developing the physical layout for substrates used in semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards (PCBs). They use specialized software to create layouts that meet electrical, thermal, and mechanical requirements, ensuring optimal performance and manufacturability. Their work involves collaborating with electrical engineers, manufacturing teams, and other stakeholders to translate schematic diagrams into detailed substrate layouts. Additionally, they may be involved in reviewing prototypes, troubleshooting design issues, and implementing improvements to enhance product reliability and efficiency.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a substrate design engineer layout?

To thrive as a Substrate Design Engineer Layout, you need expertise in PCB design, electrical engineering principles, and a relevant degree such as in electrical or electronics engineering. Proficiency with layout design tools like Cadence Allegro, Mentor Graphics, and knowledge of industry standards such as IPC is typically required. Attention to detail, problem-solving, and effective teamwork are crucial soft skills that set top performers apart. These skills and qualifications are vital for creating reliable, high-performance substrates that meet technical requirements and manufacturing constraints.

What are some typical challenges a substrate design engineer layout might encounter when collaborating with cross-functional teams?

Substrate Design Engineer Layout professionals often work closely with electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, and manufacturing teams to ensure that their designs meet performance, reliability, and manufacturability standards. One common challenge is balancing the technical requirements from different teams, such as signal integrity needs versus manufacturing constraints. Effective communication and proactive problem-solving are essential to address design trade-offs and ensure alignment across the project. Additionally, keeping up with evolving design tools and industry standards can be demanding, but it also provides valuable learning and growth opportunities.

What are popular job titles related to Substrate Design Engineer Layout jobs?

For Substrate Design Engineer Layout jobs, the most frequently searched job titles are:

Infographic showing various Substrate Design Engineer Layout job openings in the United States as of September 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% Internship, 88% Full Time, 8% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 81% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 15% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $120,849 per year, or $58.1 per hour.

Substrate IC Package Layout Design Engineer

San Jose, CA β€’ On-site

$2.0K/mo

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision

Posted 17 days ago


Job description

About Etched
Etched is building hardware for frontier intelligence. We co-design chips, racks, software, and manufacturing to deliver best-in-class throughput and latency across both prefill and decode workloads. Our first products are heavily focused on inference. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, Etched is redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history.
Job SummaryAs a Substrate IC Package Layout Design Engineer you will be responsible for the end-to-end design of complex IC substrate packages, supporting high-power consumption and high-speed signaling. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with large substrate designs (>50mm), complex power delivery networks, and high-speed signaling solutions (up to and beyond 50GHz). You will work closely with silicon, signal integrity, power integrity, and system help co-design world class substates with OSAT providers. Intense focus on optimization for power delivery through substrate, pushing what's possible.
Key Responsibilities
  • IC Substrate Layout Design
  • Lead the design and development of complex IC substrate layouts for high-power AI processors and accelerators.
  • Design large (>50mm) and complex multi-layer substrate packages with high pin counts and dense routing requirements.
  • Ensure robust power delivery designs capable of supporting >700W custom silicon solutions.
  • High-Speed Signal Routing & Integrity
  • Develop high-speed signal routing solutions capable of supporting >50GHz signaling while minimizing signal integrity issues such as loss and crosstalk.
  • Collaborate with SI/PI engineers to define signal integrity and power integrity requirements and implement solutions in substrate layout.
  • Advanced Packaging & CoWoS Integration
  • Optimize CoWoS (Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate) interposer designs for thermal and electrical performance.
  • Work closely with chip design, packaging, and manufacturing teams to ensure design feasibility and manufacturability.
  • Design Validation & Verification
  • Perform DRC (Design Rule Check) and LVS (Layout vs. Schematic) verification for all substrate designs.
  • Develop and maintain design documentation and guidelines for future substrate designs.
  • Support design reviews and provide technical guidance to junior team members.

You may be a good fit if you have
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
  • 10+ years of experience in IC substrate layout design for high-performance processors or accelerators.
  • Extensive experience with large substrate packages (>50mm) and complex high-density layouts.
  • Proven experience with high-power (700W+) package designs and robust power delivery networks.
  • Expertise in high-speed signaling design (>50GHz) and mitigating signal integrity challenges (crosstalk, reflections, impedance mismatches).
  • Strong experience with CoWoS (Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate) interposer design and the impact of the substrate design to support CoWos.
  • Advanced proficiency in Allegro Package Designer (including constraint management, routing, and design verification).
  • Deep understanding of SI/PI principles and how they apply to package-level design.
  • Strong analytical skills and ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional team environment.

Benefits
  • Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage
    • $500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits
  • Housing subsidy of $2k per month for those living within walking distance of the office
  • Relocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)
  • Various wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more
  • Daily lunch and dinner in our office
  • Unlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification

How we're different
Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We are the first inference-focused frontier AI system, betting early on transformer and transformer-like architectures and on increasing model sizes. Our addressable market is the entirety of inference, unlike many of our competitors.
We are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and greatly value engineering skills. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both and work across disciplines as needed.