Silicon Reverse Engineer

Employment Type:
Full-Time

Work Setting:
Hybrid

Work Location:

Hillsboro, Oregon, United States

Work Hours:

Office hours

Find out more here:

Semi Analysis is the leading independent research firm in semiconductors and AI. STEEL is our teardown and characterization lab in Hillsboro, Oregon. We take apart the most advanced AI and datacenter hardware, rack to transistor, and produce detailed insights on how it is built, how it compares, and why. GPUs, custom accelerators, CPUs, HBM, networking silicon, advanced packaging, every leading vendor and foundry.

You will engage directly with technical experts across the industry and guide competitive analysis, design, and manufacturing decisions.

This posting covers every technical role in the lab, all experience levels. Industry engagement, conference attendance, and networking are both an expectation and an opportunity.

We have need and opportunity at every layer: from transistor‑level process analysis to packaging and interconnects to floorplan and system architecture and integration. The stronger you deliver, the stronger your influence across the industry.

One deep area is a strong application.
Genuine excellence in a single area below is enough. Apply.

• Process integration, FEOL or BEOL, at leading-edge nodes
• Advanced packaging: 2.5D/3D integration, hybrid bonding, high-speed interconnect
• IC layout and physical design: floor plans, standard cells, P&R, custom/analog
• CPU, GPU, and accelerator architecture and microarchitecture
• Memory: HBM, DRAM, NAND, and their controllers
• Analog/mixed-signal:
  Ser Des, PLLs, PHYs, power management
• Failure analysis and fault isolation: FIB, nanoprobing, emission microscopy
• Electron microscopy and materials characterization: SEM, TEM/STEM, EDS/EELS, SIMS/XPS
• Board, system, and power delivery design
• Silicon bring‑up, validation, and debug
• Cost modeling and competitive analysis

X-ray, precision cross-section and delayering, FIB, SEM, TEM, compositional analysis, and electrical parametric analysis, purpose‑built and expanding. The team is growing and your ideas and output set your scope.

• Tear down and characterize leading‑edge hardware end to end: acquisition, X‑ray, cross‑section, delayer, imaging, interpretation
• Convert physical evidence into defensible conclusions on process, packaging, design intent, architecture, and cost
• Publish the complete body of work for each product: headline findings through full data and analysis
• Set the analytical plan per product; operate the toolchain; direct specialized work
• Track the industry through conferences, papers, patents, and your network; apply it to every interpretation
• Shape lab workflows, capabilities, and equipment purchases

• Genuine exposure to leading‑edge semiconductors, hardware, or systems
• Reasoning from physical evidence to design and process intent
• Technical writing that holds up under expert scrutiny
• Hands‑on aptitude for sample preparation, imaging, and analytical instruments
• US work authorization preferred; sponsorship considered for exceptional candidates

• Breadth across process, packaging, layout, architecture, and systems, every major vendor and foundry
• Conference presence and standing with the industry’s technical leadership
• Scope and role grow with the team and the lab
• Influence over research direction, lab investments, and the teardown queue

• You understand hardware from transistor to rack
• You respond well to criticisms of and challenges to your technical interpretations
• You already follow the industry: conferences, papers, product launches
• You can tell real structure from artifact
• You investigate, you ship, you close your own loops
• You deliver on your responsibilities and support others in theirs; you treat everyone you work with as a peer and leave concepts of hierarchy at the door

75% onsite in Hillsboro, OR. US work authorization strongly preferred; sponsorship considered for exceptional candidates. Competitive compensation commensurate with experience.

Semi Analysis is an independent research and analysis firm specializing in the Semiconductor and…