Semiconductor and hardware engineering covers the chips, boards, and packages that everything digital runs on. ASIC designers implementing AI accelerator datapaths at 7nm and below. FPGA architects building pipelines that process 40 Gbps in real time. Fab process engineers developing plasma etch recipes at sub-5nm nodes. Packaging engineers qualifying hybrid bonding at sub-10um pitch for chiplet architectures.
The CHIPS Act is directing $52.7 billion into U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research, and workforce development, and the talent shortage is the primary constraint. Every new fab that breaks ground creates demand for hundreds of engineers that the domestic pipeline cannot supply.
Salary range
$150K - $305K
Cities
San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Austin
Chiplet architectures are reshaping how chips get designed and packaged, creating new roles at the intersection of ASIC design and advanced packaging. AI accelerator design is the hottest specialization in digital ASIC work. The CHIPS Act fabs are creating a surge in process engineering demand, particularly for etch, lithography, and deposition specialists. Automotive semiconductor test is evolving around zero-DPPM quality targets.
Semiconductor engineers specialize early and deeply. ASIC designers progress from block-level RTL to full-chip architecture. Process engineers advance from recipe development to module ownership to fab-wide integration. Test engineers progress from ATE programming to test strategy. The staff-level roles own architecture decisions that affect entire product lines.
An AI hardware startup with a shipping product and designing the next-generation architecture.
A communications equipment manufacturer building high-throughput signal processing systems on large-scale FPGA platforms.
A semiconductor manufacturer ramping a new advanced-node fab with 300mm wafer production in the US.
