Staff Reliability Engineer

Qualcomm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 128,000 - 192,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. seeks a highly motivated Reliability Engineer to lead reliability strategy, qualification, and risk assessment across advanced semiconductor and hardware products.

You will collaborate with technology development, design, manufacturing, test, quality, and suppliers to ensure robustness throughout the development lifecycle. The role emphasizes failure analysis, statistical reliability, and data-driven decision making to shape technology choices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or higher with relevant reliability engineering experience including stress testing.
• Experience leading reliability initiatives and risk assessments is preferred.
• Familiarity with industry reliability standards and testing methods is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead reliability strategy, qualification execution, and risk assessment across semiconductor and hardware products.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams spanning technology development, design, manufacturing, test, quality, and suppliers.
• Develop risk-based validation strategies and apply statistical reliability methods.
• Drive reliability improvements and mentor engineers in a fast-paced environment.

Skills

Reliability principles

Statistical modeling

Failure analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, or related field

Master’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, or related field

PhD in Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, or related field

Tools

JMP

ReliaSoft

Python

MATLAB

Minitab

Job description

Company:

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Reliability Development Engineering

General Summary:

We are seeking a highly motivated Reliability Engineer to lead reliability strategy, qualification execution, risk assessment, and reliability improvement initiatives across advanced semiconductor and hardware products. This role partners with cross-functional teams spanning technology development, design, product engineering, manufacturing, test, quality, and suppliers to ensure robust product reliability throughout the development lifecycle. The successful candidate will drive reliability qualifications, develop risk-based validation strategies, perform failure analysis, apply statistical reliability modeling, and influence product and technology decisions through data-driven reliability engineering practices. Experience with Design-for-Reliability (DfR), reliability physics, and intrinsic technology reliability is highly desirable.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Material Science, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Reliability Engineering (e.g., reliability analysis, stress testing) experience or related work experience. OR Master’s degree in Engineering, Material Science, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Reliability Engineering (e.g., reliability analysis, stress testing) experience or related work experience. OR PhD in Engineering, Material Science, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Reliability Engineering (e.g., reliability analysis, stress testing) experience or related work experience.
• 1+ year in a technical leadership role with or without direct reports. (applies only to positions with direct reports)

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD with 1+ years, Master's degree with 4+ years, or Bachelor's degree with 6+ years of relevant experience in Reliability Engineering, Product Engineering, Quality Engineering, Test Engineering, or a related field.
• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Reliability Engineering, Physics, or a related discipline.
• Strong experience in product reliability qualification, reliability execution, and validation methodologies.
• Expertise reliability risk assessment techniques such as DFMEA, PFMEA, Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), or similar approaches.
• Strong understanding of reliability physics, failure mechanisms, degradation models, acceleration factors, and lifetime prediction methodologies.
• Experience with statistical reliability analysis, Weibull analysis, accelerated life testing, survival analysis, reliability modeling, and data-driven decision making.
• Experience with industry standards such as JEDEC, IEC, Telcordia, MIL-STD, or equivalent.
• Familiarity with reliability testing including HTOL, HAST, THB, temperature cycling, thermal shock, vibration, mechanical shock, ESD, latch-up, and package qualification.
• Experience with semiconductor, packaging, PCB, module, or electronic system technologies.
• Knowledge of intrinsic technology reliability, semiconductor device reliability characterization, and technology-level failure mechanisms is a strong plus.
• Experience using analytical and modeling tools such as JMP, ReliaSoft, Python, MATLAB, Minitab, or equivalent.

Skills and Competencies

• Understanding of reliability engineering principles, qualification methodologies, and reliability execution.
• Expertise in reliability risk assessment, statistical modeling, and reliability prediction.
• Knowledge of intrinsic technology reliability, reliability physics, and product failure mechanisms.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and technical leadership skills.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Ability to influence technical decisions and drive cross-functional alignment in a fast-paced development environment.
• Proven track record of leading complex reliability programs and mentoring engineers.

This position offers the opportunity to shape reliability strategy, influence next-generation technologies, and drive reliability excellence from technology development through product deployment.

Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may e-mail [e-mail] or call Qualcomm's toll-free number found here. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).

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Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:

$128,000.00 - $192,000.00

The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer - and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.

If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.