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Substrate Engineer Jobs in Ashburn, VA (NOW HIRING)

Devyantram

Lead Biohybrid Systems Engineer

Ashburn, VA · On-site

$145K - $165K/yr

Role Summary You will own the neural substrate of the CEREBRION bionic brain system in both its living and engineered, materials-based forms, as well as the bioelectronic interface that couples that ...

Workday

Cybersecurity Engineer

Reston, VA · On-site

You'll spend most of your time engineering the substrate - the reliable data pipelines, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD, and cross-tool integrations - that turns security data into a dependable ...

Socket.dev

Cybersecurity Engineer

Reston, VA · On-site

$120 - $180/hr

You'll spend most of your time engineering the substrate - the reliable data pipelines, cloud ... infrastructure, CI/CD, and cross-tool integrations - that turns security data into a dependable ...

Devyantram

Lead Bioengineer

Ashburn, VA · On-site

$145 - $165/hr

Own the neural substrate of CEREBRION across both its living and engineered, materials‑based forms. * Develop and maintain engineered neural tissue and biohybrid substrates. * Design and build ...

Exiger

Platform Engineer, Public Sector

Mclean, VA · On-site

About the Role We are hiring a Platform Engineer to build and operate the cloud substrate our federal programs run on: the AWS and GovCloud account patterns, Kubernetes platform, Terraform module ...

Innodata Inc.

AI Solutions Engineer

Washington, DC

$75 - $80/hr

Configure data-layer DLP policies above the AFS-managed DLP infrastructure substrate * Configure ... The AI Solutions Engineer operates at the AI/ML configuration and integration layer above the ...

Devyantram

Lead Photonics Engineer

Ashburn, VA · On-site

$150K - $170K/yr

You are responsible for architecting intelligence-substrate hardware, not just building individual components. Key Responsibilities Photonics Engineering • Design and simulate photonic circuits ...

Verisign

Sr Research Engineer

Reston, VA · Hybrid

$135K - $183K/yr

... substrate at the heart of the Internet. Successful candidates for this position will be in a ... The Sr Engineer - Research Engineering plays a lead technical role in identifying and developing ...

Verisign

Research Engineer

Reston, VA · Hybrid

$108K - $147K/yr

... substrate at the heart of the Internet. Successful candidates will be in a position to make ... The Engineer III - Research Software Engineer plays a role in identifying and developing novel and ...

Verisign

Sr Research Engineer

Reston, VA · On-site

$135K - $183K/yr

... substrate at the heart of the Internet. Successful candidates for this position will be in a ... The Sr Engineer - Research Engineering plays a lead technical role in identifying and developing ...

Forterra

AI Platform Engineer

Arlington, VA · On-site

$125 - $145/hr

This role builds and owns that substrate: the agent definitions, skills, MCP servers, guardrails, and evaluation harnesses that determine whether hundreds of engineers get leverage or just burn ...

Forterra

AI Platform Engineer

Arlington, VA · On-site

This role builds and owns that substrate: the agent definitions, skills, MCP servers, guardrails, and evaluation harnesses that determine whether hundreds of engineers get leverage or just burn ...

Verisign

Research Engineer

Reston, VA · On-site

$108K - $147K/yr

... substrate at the heart of the Internet. Successful candidates will be in a position to make ... The Engineer III - Research Software Engineer plays a role in identifying and developing novel and ...

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All JobsSubstrate Engineer JobsSubstrate Engineer Jobs in Ashburn, VA

Substrate Engineer information

See Ashburn, VA salary details

$24.5K

$110.4K

$175.9K

How much do substrate engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 25, 2026, the average yearly pay for substrate engineer in Ashburn, VA is $110,397.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $85,400.00 and $136,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a substrate engineer?

A Substrate Engineer is a professional who specializes in designing, developing, and optimizing the underlying frameworks, often referred to as substrates, for electronic devices or software platforms. In the context of electronics, they work with materials and technologies that form the physical base for circuits and chips, ensuring performance, reliability, and manufacturability. In software, especially blockchain, a Substrate Engineer focuses on building and customizing blockchains using the Substrate framework, handling core logic, consensus, and runtime modules. Their role is crucial for creating robust and scalable systems tailored to specific application requirements.

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

To thrive as a Substrate Engineer, you need a strong background in materials science, semiconductor fabrication, and electrical engineering, often supported by a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with industry-standard design tools like Cadence or Mentor Graphics, as well as experience with substrate modeling, PCB design, and analysis software, is typically required. Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and effective communication are crucial soft skills for collaborating across multidisciplinary teams. These qualifications are essential for ensuring high-quality, reliable substrate designs that meet performance, manufacturability, and cost requirements in advanced electronics manufacturing.

What are some common challenges substrate engineers face when working on high-density interconnect (HDI) designs?

Substrate Engineers often encounter challenges related to managing signal integrity, thermal performance, and miniaturization when working with HDI designs. Balancing the need for dense routing with electrical performance can be complex, especially as device sizes shrink and layer counts increase. Collaboration with PCB designers, materials scientists, and manufacturing teams is crucial to address these issues and ensure the substrate meets both design and production requirements. Keeping up with evolving technologies and industry standards is also essential for success in this role.

What is the difference between Substrate Engineer vs Semiconductor Process Engineer?

AspectSubstrate EngineerSemiconductor Process Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, or related fieldsBachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related fields
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, fabrication facilities, semiconductor manufacturing plantsCleanrooms, fabrication facilities, process development labs
Industry UsageSemiconductor manufacturing, electronics, integrated circuitsSemiconductor fabrication, chip production, process optimization
Common Search/ComparisonYesYes

Substrate Engineers focus on developing and optimizing the materials and layers used in semiconductor devices, while Semiconductor Process Engineers work on the overall manufacturing processes to produce chips efficiently. Both roles require similar educational backgrounds and often collaborate within the semiconductor industry, but their specific responsibilities differ in scope and focus.

What are popular job titles related to Substrate Engineer jobs in Ashburn, VA?

For Substrate Engineer jobs in Ashburn, VA, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Substrate Engineer jobs in Ashburn, VA look for?

The top searched job categories for Substrate Engineer jobs in Ashburn, VA are:

Substrate Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Substrate Engineer job openings in Ashburn, VA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 88% Full Time, 7% Part Time, and 5% Contract. Highlights an 83% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 12% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $110,397 per year, or $53.1 per hour.

Senior Software Engineer, Substrate

Washington, DC

Palantir
See more jobs at Palantirexternal

$138K - $182K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 11 days ago

Job description

hackajob is collaborating with Palantir to connect them with exceptional professionals for this role.

A World-Changing Company

Palantir builds the world’s leading software for data-driven decisions and operations. By bringing the right data to the people who need it, our platforms empower our partners to develop lifesaving drugs, forecast supply chain disruptions, locate missing children, and more.

The Role

Substrate is the team responsible for Palantir’s core production infrastructure — 100s of K8s clusters — from on-prem to the major cloud hyperscalers, whether they are internet-connected or air-gapped, small hardware footprint or large. As a Senior Software Engineer on Substrate, you will design and build Palantir’s managed Kubernetes product offerings across all these environments.

You and your team will be responsible for bootstrapping and operating the entire fleet of K8s clusters with zero manual steps by building industry leading tooling and contributing to core CNCF components. You will also be responsible for ensuring scale, stability and security across a matrix of compliance regimes and hosting infrastructure types. Your team culture emphasizes engineering rigor and operational excellence at scale. This means issues in production should be pre-empted and deeply root-caused, and investments in automation and self-healing systems are key.

If you’re excited about infrastructure at scale and working with Kubernetes, this is the right role for you.

Core Responsibilities

  • Deliver a container runtime to challenging new environment types - new clouds, on premise, edge devices
  • Build automation and establish standards for operating K8s securely at scale with zero manual ops overhead
  • Drive innovation through adoption of novel K8s features and CNCF tools, making upstream contributions as needed
  • Design the next generation of Palantir’s infrastructure through a deep understanding of internal systems and CNCF standards

What We Value

  • Systems programming experience with strong proficiency in golang, C/C++ or equivalent
  • Working knowledge or hands on experience of infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform, ansible, puppet or K8s operators, and competent coding in Go, Java, or equivalent for the purposes of automation or scripting
  • Deep familiarity with hardware and OS configurations, diagnostic tooling, networking nuts and bolts
  • Deep familiarity with containers (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes) at scale
  • Experience working with a cloud provider (AWS/Azure/GCE), or sysadmin/SRE experience in data centers
  • Experience designing, building, and operating high-scale observability or infrastructure systems
  • Working knowledge of networking fundamentals, experience with CNIs or cloud networking infrastructure preferred

What We Require

  • 4+ years of professional software development experience on core infrastructure with emphasis on operational excellence
  • 2+ years of experience contributing to the system design or architecture (architecture, design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent

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