ASIC Engineer Positions in Austin, Texas
Austin has become the clearest alternative to the Bay Area for chip design work. Samsung runs a large fab and design presence in the city, and AMD, Apple, NXP, Qualcomm, and Cirrus Logic all staff engineering teams there. Texas tax rates and a steady supply of graduates from UT Austin keep the pipeline full.
ASIC roles in Austin cover the full design stack: SoC architecture, RTL design, verification, physical design, and analog and mixed-signal work. Samsung Austin's memory and logic teams pull in a steady stream of design and DFT engineers. Apple's silicon group hires for CPU and SoC blocks, and NXP staffs automotive and edge processors that ship into cars and industrial gear.
Day to day, the work looks like it does anywhere serious silicon gets built. You write and verify RTL, run synthesis and timing in the usual Synopsys and Cadence flows, and hand off to physical design and DFT. The difference is who signs your paycheck and what end market the part goes into.
Beyond the big names, Austin has a real startup layer. AI accelerator, automotive, and edge-compute companies set up shop here to hire experienced ASIC engineers without paying Bay Area rent. Those teams tend to want people who can own more of the flow than a large company would hand a single engineer.
Total compensation in Austin usually runs a little below Bay Area numbers, but the lower housing cost changes the real math. Experienced ASIC engineers often see total comp in the $170K to $250K range, with staff roles higher. Compare the semiconductor salary guide across cities before you weigh an offer against a Silicon Valley one.
If you are still deciding between metros, it helps to line Austin up against Silicon Valley semiconductor roles, and to check Samsung's design openings since the company anchors so much of the local hiring.
Set a location alert on semidesignjobs.com for Austin and you will hear about new roles as they post. You can also browse the full Austin chip design listings to see what is open now.
FAQ
What major semiconductor companies have ASIC design operations in Austin, TX
Samsung Austin Semiconductor, AMD, Apple, NXP, Cirrus Logic, Silicon Labs, Microchip Technology, and Qualcomm all run ASIC design teams in Austin. Between them the city now supports a design workforce close to what you find in the older valley hubs.
How does the Austin semiconductor job market compare to Silicon Valley
Average total compensation is somewhat lower than Silicon Valley, but so is the cost of living, which leaves many engineers with better purchasing power. Demand is strong, with Samsung and Apple in particular competing hard for experienced ASIC engineers.
Are there semiconductor design startups in Austin hiring ASIC engineers
Yes. Austin has a growing set of startups in AI, automotive, and edge computing that hire ASIC engineers. SemiDesignJobs tracks these smaller companies alongside the established players, so both show up in an Austin search.