Sr. Principal Reliability Engineer

Ampere Computing; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 226,000 - 339,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Premium medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401K retirement plan

Unlimited flextime

10+ paid holidays

Job summary

Ampere Computing is seeking a Sr. Principal Reliability Engineer to lead reliability strategies for high‑power CPUs. You will own burn‑in, HTOL, post‑silicon validation, and data‑driven decisions across engineering disciplines.

The role requires a deep quality mindset, cross‑functional leadership, and the ability to drive continuous improvement in a fast‑paced environment. Strong statistical tools and modeling skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related field.
• 12+ years of progressive reliability engineering experience for semiconductors.
• Experience with burn-in, HTOL, and data-driven reliability modeling.
• Ability to lead complex reliability projects from concept to production.
• Strong communication and cross-functional leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Serve as lead reliability authority across all engineering disciplines.
• Architect and implement burn-in and HTOL qualification plans.
• Lead complex stress experiments and manage timelines/resources.
• Collaborate with DFT and ATE teams to test reliability features.
• Perform advanced statistical analysis to identify trends and validate results.
• Drive post-silicon validation strategies with risk assessments.

Skills

Statistical analysis

Reliability modeling

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree (Electrical Engineering / Materials Science / Physics)

Master’s or Ph.D. preferred

Tools

JMP

R

Python

Job description

Ampere is a semiconductor design company for a new era, leading the future of computing with an innovative approach to CPU design focused on high-performance, energy efficient AI compute.

As a pioneer in the new frontier of energy efficient high-performance computing, Ampere is part of the Softbank Group of companies driving sustainable computing for AI, Cloud, and edge applications.

About the Role:

Join our dynamic Quality & Reliability Organization as a Principal Reliability Engineer, a pivotal role responsible for defining, driving, and ensuring the highest standards of product reliability for complex high power CPU devices. You will be the expert owner for critical reliability domains including burn-in, HTOL, Vmin and others for data collection and analysis, providing technical leadership and strategic direction.

We seek a seasoned professional with a deep-rooted quality mindset, a proven track record of data-driven decision-making, exceptional cross-functional leadership, and a passion for driving continuous improvement. This is an opportunity to make a significant impact in a fast-paced, innovative environment, collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex reliability challenges and shape the future of high-performance computing.

What You’ll Achieve:

As a Sr. Principal Reliability Engineer, you will:

• Serve as a lead reliability authority, proactively engaging with all engineering disciplines across Ampere to validate the quality and reliability of the product from definition through post-silicon validation.
• Architect and implement robust reliability qualification plans, specifically for burn-in and HTOL, collaborating with external vendors to drive the design and bring-up of specialized burn-in hardware for high-performance CPUs.
• Lead the tactical execution of complex stress experiments, managing timelines and resources to ensure seamless product qualification and ramp.
• Partner closely with Design-for-Test (DFT) and Automated Test Equipment (ATE) teams to champion the integration of design-for-reliability features and ensure appropriate test patterns are available for comprehensive product stressing.
• Perform advanced statistical analysis of reliability data to identify subtle trends, critical signals, and validate silicon results against sophisticated reliability models, drawing impactful conclusions.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives by synthesizing learnings from previous product generations, proactively conducting comprehensive risk assessments to inform and shape post-silicon validation strategies.
• Act as a primary technical liaison with Assembly and Manufacturing Test personnel, and Quality contacts to proactively address customer requirements and resolve complex quality and reliability issues throughout product qualification, ramp, and high-volume manufacturing.

About You:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related technical field is required. A Master's or Ph.D. is strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of progressive experience in semiconductor product reliability engineering, specifically with expertise in burn-in, HTOL and building data driven statistical models to project and validate the reliability for high-performance CPUs.
• Demonstrated experience with semiconductor manufacturing, test, and debug processes.
• In-depth understanding of data center product requirements and reliability expectations.
• Proven ability to lead complex reliability projects from conception to production.
• Expertise in statistical analysis software (e.g., JMP, R, Python) and reliability modeling techniques (e.g., Arrhenius, Eyring).
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively across all levels of the organization and with external partners.

What We’ll Offer:

At Ampere we believe in taking care of our employees and providing a competitive total rewards package that includes base pay, cash long-term incentive, and comprehensive benefits. The full base pay range for this role is between $225,500 and $338,500, except in the San Francisco Bay Area where the range is between $237,000 and $356,000.

Our benefits include health, wellness, and financial programs that support employees through every stage of life.

Benefit highlights include:

• Premium medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, as well as income protection and a 401K retirement plan, so that you can feel secure in your health and financial future.
• Unlimited Flextime and 10+ paid holidays so that you can embrace a healthy work-life balance.
• A variety of healthy snacks, energizing espresso, and refreshing drinks to keep you fueled and focused throughout the day.

And there is much more than compensation and benefits. At Ampere, we foster an inclusive culture that empowers our employees to do more and grow more. We are excited to share more about our career opportunities with you through the interview process.

#LI-Hybrid

Ampere is an inclusive and equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, age, veteran and/or military status, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical or mental disability, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law.