Hardware Reliability Engineer - Mountain View, CA, United States

Originally posted 18 June 2026 by the employer.

This role focuses on the reliability of AI accelerator silicon, particularly 2.5D/3D and heterogeneously-integrated packages.

About the role

This role involves owning the reliability of advanced packages and systems that turn AI accelerator silicon into products that survive years in the field. You will define how 2.5D/3D and heterogeneously-integrated packages are qualified, model their physics of failure, and drive root-cause analysis when failures occur.

What you'll do

• Conduct physics-of-failure modeling for advanced accelerator packaging; assess thermal, mechanical, and electrical stressors; define and execute stress-test protocols including thermal cycling, electromigration, HTOL, HAST/uHAST, and power cycling
• Lead failure-mode analysis using C-SAM, X-ray CT, SEM, TEM, FIB, and EBSD; identify cracking, voiding, electromigration, and stress-induced damage; drive corrective/preventive action (8D, FMEA)
• Build and apply models (Coffin-Manson, Arrhenius, Black's equation) and FEA-based stress simulation to predict field lifetime and FIT under real accelerator thermal and power profiles
• Partner with assembly and test providers on reliability improvements; define requirements, ensure JEDEC/IPC/IEEE/MIL-STD compliance, monitor OSAT performance, and support supplier audits and qualifications
• Assess thermal, mechanical, and electrical stress interactions across package, board, and the system the accelerator ships in; drive design-for-reliability into the package and board ↔ package interface
• Develop design guidelines and reliability best practices, and own the reliability data presented to internal teams and customers
• Translate package- and system-level reliability into fleet availability targets; drive detection and mitigation of silent data corruption (SDC) / silent data errors in production

What you'll need

• MS or Ph.D. in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field
• 5+ years in 2.5D/3D advanced packaging reliability
• Deep command of physics-of-failure methodology and strong materials-science knowledge, particularly interconnects and interfaces
• Proficiency in statistical reliability analysis (Weibull, lognormal, acceleration modeling; JMP, Minitab, or Python)
• Hands-on failure analysis with C-SAM, X-ray CT, SEM, TEM, FIB, and EBSD
• Proven track record driving OSAT/partner improvements and managing qualifications
• Familiarity with JEDEC, IPC, IEEE, and MIL-STD standards
• Heterogeneous integration, fan-out packaging, chiplet architectures, HBM, or silicon-photonics packaging
• Electrical reliability mechanisms (electromigration, dielectric/TDDB breakdown)
• Design-for-reliability (DFR), prognostics, and health management for electronic systems
• AI-driven reliability modeling or machine learning for failure prediction
• High-power / high-current package reliability for accelerators or GPUs; customer-facing qualification experience

Skills: physics-of-failure, stress-test protocols, failure analysis, lifetime prediction, advanced packaging reliability