Sr. Failure Analysis Engineer - Santa Clara, CA, United States
$124,930 USD yearly
Originally posted 10 September 2026 by the employer.
This role focuses on solving complex semiconductor IC failures.
About the role
This role involves joining an engineering team focused on solving complex semiconductor IC failures. You will play a key role in identifying failure mechanisms, driving root cause analysis, and improving product quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction for advanced semiconductor products.
What you'll do
- Lead electrical and physical failure analysis investigations from fault isolation through root cause conclusion.
- Analyze failures from customer returns, qualification, reliability testing, and new product development.
- Collaborate with design, product, test, system, reliability, and customer engineering teams.
- Prepare FA summaries, technical reports, and leadership updates.
- Strengthen FA best practices, share lessons learned, and improve analysis efficiency and reporting consistency.
What you'll need
- 5+ years of hands-on experience in semiconductor IC failure analysis.
- Strong understanding of semiconductor device structures, processes, and common failure mechanisms.
- Demonstrated experience with fault isolation, functional verification, and root cause failure analysis.
- Hands-on experience with micro-probing, SEM/EDX, silicon device deprocessing, FIB, and mechanical cross-sectioning.
- Knowledge of 2D/3D X-ray inspection, EMMI/OBIRCH, thermal imaging, decapsulation, and semiconductor reliability testing.
- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related technical field.
Nice to have
- MEMS experience.
- Master’s degree.
This role has been open 34 days — well below the 49-day median for Failure Analysis Engineering roles.
Failure Analysis Engineering · Failure Analysis
|
Open roles in category
193
|
Median days open
49 d
|
Median salary
$115k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | SiTime | All employers we track in this specialty (193 roles · 39 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 1 | 193 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 18 | 9890 · 109 employers |
| Median days open | 34 d | 49 d (−15 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $115k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Micron Technology · 31 open roles · median 72 d
- GlobalFoundries · 14 open roles · median 23 d
- Lam Research · 14 open roles · median 39 d
- Infineon Technologies · 13 open roles · median 44 d
- Intel Corporation · 12 open roles · median 26 d
- AMD · 9 open roles · median 83 d
How we counted: 193 open Failure Analysis Engineering (Failure Analysis) roles from 39 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.