Senior Staff/Principal Reliability Engineer

Job Title

Senior Staff/Principal Reliability Engineer

Role Summary

Lead reliability strategy and execution for advanced semiconductor technologies, including devices, interconnects, packages (2.5D/3D, TSV, chiplets) and complex SoC platforms. Work cross-functionally with design, process, test, product, program, and foundry teams to qualify technologies, assess failure mechanisms, and mitigate reliability risks across the product lifecycle.

Serve as a technical authority: establish scalable reliability practices, provide expert judgment on trade-offs and EM waivers, mentor engineers, and report reliability status and risks to senior leadership.

Experience Level

Senior-level. Prefer candidates with roughly 10–15+ years of industry experience in semiconductor reliability, technology development, or product qualification. Expect demonstrated technical leadership (including ~3+ years in a technical leadership role).

Responsibilities

Accountable for defining and executing reliability requirements and strategy for complex designs and advanced technologies, and for communicating risk and qualification status.

• Define foundry qualification reliability requirements and execute technology certification for complex designs.
• Lead reliability strategy and execution for high-impact products across devices, packages, and systems.
• Perform and guide mechanism-based reliability analysis (aging, wear-out, EM, BTI, TDDB, HCI) and lifetime modeling.
• Design and oversee reliability test structures and stress testing; interpret complex reliability measurement data.
• Identify and mitigate reliability risks across the product lifecycle while meeting schedule and business constraints.
• Drive cross-functional alignment with design, process, test, product, program, and foundry teams.
• Establish and improve organizational reliability processes and best practices for future technology generations.
• Provide technical judgment on reliability trade-offs and approve/advise on EM waivers.
• Mentor and develop engineering staff; communicate strategic reliability recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Requirements

Key technical and professional requirements. Education/degree expectations are summarized separately below.

• Must-have: Extensive hands-on semiconductor reliability engineering experience, including reliability analysis, stress testing, and qualification for advanced CMOS nodes (Planar, FinFET, GAA).
• Must-have: Deep expertise in device and interconnect failure mechanisms (BTI, TDDB, HCI, electromigration, self-heating, MOL/BEOL wear-out).
• Must-have: Experience designing reliability test structures, performing reliability measurements, and interpreting results to inform qualification decisions.
• Must-have: Proven ability to translate device/process reliability data into circuit- and system-level metrics for SoC/platform decision-making.
• Must-have: Experience reviewing and approving electromigration (EM) waivers for on-chip metal, bump, and ball interfaces.
• Must-have: Advanced statistical analysis and lifetime modeling skills (e.g., Weibull analysis, large-data correlation) used to support qualification sign-off.
• Must-have: Demonstrated technical leadership and ability to influence cross-functional design, process, product, test, and foundry teams.
• Nice-to-have: Experience with advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration reliability (TSV-based 2.5D/3D, chiplets, backside power delivery).
• Nice-to-have: Familiarity with statistical tools such as JMP or Minitab and large-data correlation techniques.

Education Requirements

Degree options listed in the posting: Bachelor's in Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, or related field (with ~8+ years relevant experience); OR Master's in Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, or related field (with ~7+ years relevant experience); OR PhD in Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field (with ~6+ years relevant experience). The posting also accepts equivalent related work experience where noted and indicates a preference for MS/PhD for demonstrated industry impact.

About the Company

Company: Qualcomm

Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States

Qualcomm is a global leader in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment, specializing in mobile technologies and innovations. Known for its Adreno GPUs, the company provides solutions enabling advancements in mobile gaming, AI, VR/AR, and autonomous driving. Qualcomm's cutting-edge technology and commitment to high-performance, power-efficient designs drive the evolution of mobile graphics and connectivity worldwide.