Product Reliability Engineer - Silicon One

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 223,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. in San Jose is seeking a Product Reliability Engineer to own end-to-end reliability qualification for Silicon One ASICs, ensuring world-class performance and field readiness.

You will apply semiconductor engineering and physics foundations to validate designs, packaging, and foundry processes, collaborating with ASIC design, test operations, manufacturing, and external labs. This role offers visibility across functions and opportunities to resolve complex technical challenges

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Microelectronics, Physics, or related field.
• 3+ years in semiconductor product reliability, manufacturing/assembly, test processes, and failure analysis.
• Solid understanding of semiconductor manufacturing, IC test methods, device reliability, and failure mechanisms.
• Hands-on with accelerated life testing, reliability estimation, and testing of semiconductor components.
• Proficient in statistical data analysis, ATE data interpretation, electrical characterization, and FA.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end reliability test plans from silicon bring-up to production qualification, coordinating with external labs.
• Assess IC, package, and process reliability against standards, including HTOL, HAST, ESD, latch-up.
• Lead cross-functional failure analysis and root-cause investigations to drive corrective actions.
• Analyze reliability data, life acceleration models, and burn-in trends for field readiness.
• Deliver qualification reports and risk assessments to support production releases.

Skills

Statistical data analysis

Failure analysis

Reliability testing

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering / Materials Science / Microelectronics / Physics

Tools

SEM

TEM

FIB

X-ray

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/19/2026 The role operates as onsite work model in San Jose, California.

Meet the Team

Join the Silicon Operations Quality & Reliability team at the core of Cisco's next-generation hardware and networking strategy. Our mission is to ensure the long-term reliability and physical integrity of Silicon One ASICs—the industry-leading silicon architectures powering modern AI data center clusters and hyperscale networks. We are a collaborative, highly technical group of semiconductor, packaging, and reliability engineers who partner closely with ASIC design, test operations, and global foundry partners.

What makes our team exciting

It is an opportunity to work at the bleeding edge of semiconductor technology—validating massive, high-power ASICs built on advanced sub-5nm fabrication nodes and complex 2.5D/3D multi-die packaging technologies.

Your Impact

As a Product Reliability Engineer, you will own the end-to-end reliability qualification lifecycle for our flagship Silicon One ASICs to guarantee world-class performance and field readiness. You will apply your semiconductor engineering and physics foundation to validate new silicon designs, advanced packaging, and foundry fabrication processes. Operating in a highly visible multi-functional environment, you will collaborate with ASIC design, test engineering, manufacturing operations, and external testing laboratories to resolve complex technical challenges and eliminate quality risks before mass production.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own and execute end-to-end reliability test plans for new products from initial silicon bring-up through full production qualification, including coordination with Bay Area external test laboratories.
• Assess integrated circuit (IC), package, and process reliability against industry standards by managing critical evaluations such as HTOL, HAST, ESD (HBM/CDM), and Latch-up testing.
• Lead cross-functional failure analysis (FA) and root-cause investigations to drive corrective actions and prevent future silicon defects.
• Analyze reliability datasets, life acceleration models, and burn-in trends to evaluate field readiness and validate new silicon nodes and packaging technologies.
• Deliver comprehensive qualification reports and risk assessments to engineering partners and leadership to support production release milestones.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Microelectronics, Physics, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

3+ years of experience in semiconductor product reliability, manufacturing/assembly, test processes, supply chain, and failure analysis.

Strong understanding of semiconductor manufacturing, IC test methodologies, device reliability, and common silicon/package failure mechanisms.

Hands-on experience with accelerated life testing, reliability estimation, and reliability testing of semiconductor components and modules.

Proficiency in statistical data analysis, ATE data interpretation, electrical characterization, IC failure analysis, and multi-functional collaboration to analyze yield loss and device failures.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience qualifying devices fabricated on advanced semiconductor process nodes (sub-7nm/5nm/3nm) or using advanced packaging technologies (2.5D/3D, multi-die, chiplets).
• Direct experience managing qualification test execution, hardware development, and scheduling with external third-party testing laboratories.
• Practical knowledge of physical failure analysis techniques (e.g., SEM, TEM, FIB, EMMI, OBIRCH, X-ray) to identify physical root causes of device failures.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Salary and Benefits

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada: The starting salary range posted for this position is $155,000.00 to $222,600.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process. U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time. U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies: 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations) 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies. Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows: .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota; 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%; 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation. For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

Salary Ranges by State

• New York City Metro Area: $155,000.00 - $256,000.00
• Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $138,100.00 - $227,900.00