Staff Reliability Engineer

Job Title

Staff Reliability Engineer

Role Summary

The Staff Reliability Engineer will lead reliability strategy, qualifications, risk assessment, and reliability improvement initiatives for advanced semiconductor and hardware products. The role partners with technology development, design, product engineering, manufacturing, test, quality, and suppliers to ensure product robustness through the development lifecycle.

Experience Level

Senior-level role. Requires multiple years of reliability engineering experience and demonstrable technical leadership.

Responsibilities

Core responsibilities include driving reliability execution and influencing product decisions using data-driven practices.

• Define and lead reliability strategy and qualification plans across products and technologies.
• Develop and execute risk-based validation and qualification strategies.
• Perform failure analysis, reliability testing oversight, and root-cause investigations.
• Apply statistical reliability modeling, life-prediction methods, and reliability data analysis.
• Lead cross-functional reliability programs and coordinate with manufacturing, test, and suppliers.
• Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership on reliability-related decisions.

Requirements

Must-have qualifications and technical capabilities. Preferred items are listed where applicable.

• Relevant, multi-year reliability engineering experience (exact minimum varies with education level).
• Experience leading technical programs or serving in a technical leadership role (1+ year preferred).
• Practical experience with product reliability qualification and validation methodologies and execution.
• Experience with reliability risk assessment techniques (DFMEA, PFMEA, FTA) and reliability prediction methods.
• Proven ability in failure analysis and statistical reliability methods (Weibull, accelerated life testing, survival analysis).
• Familiarity with common reliability tests: HTOL, HAST, THB, temperature cycling, thermal shock, vibration, mechanical shock, ESD, latch-up, and package qualification.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder-management skills; ability to influence cross-functional teams.
• Nice-to-have: experience with industry standards (JEDEC, IEC, Telcordia, MIL-STD), intrinsic device/technology reliability, semiconductor/packaging/PCB/module technologies, and tools such as JMP, ReliaSoft, Python, MATLAB, or Minitab.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science or a related technical field are cited. The posting allows equivalent practical work experience in lieu of a degree. Preferred fields mentioned include Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Reliability Engineering, and Physics. (Degree-specific minimum experience varies: e.g., lower years of required experience for higher degrees.)

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.