Principal Semiconductor Engineer

Semiconductor Principal (L7 equivalent), org-wide scope 12+ years

Other levels: Semiconductor Engineer Senior Semiconductor Engineer Staff Semiconductor Engineer Lead Semiconductor Engineer Junior Semiconductor Engineer

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Intel

TSMC

Samsung

Micron

Applied Materials

GlobalFoundries

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The job description

Tech stack. technology strategy, node roadmap, industry benchmarking, patent portfolio, executive technical communication, cross-fab standardization, technical governance

About the role

A semiconductor manufacturer needs a principal engineer to set technical direction across the organization, the person whose judgment settles the debates that engineering teams cannot resolve on their own. You will define the multi-year technology roadmap, arbitrate the hardest technical trade-offs between performance, cost, and schedule, and represent the company's engineering capability to customers and partners. Your influence spans fabs, product lines, and technology generations, and the technical bets you bless determine where the company competes for years. The principal engineer also chairs the technical governance reviews where node and platform decisions are debated, ensuring the roadmap reflects engineering reality rather than optimism.

What you will achieve

Define the 3-to-5-year process technology roadmap that leadership funds and the organization executes against, with clear decision points and off-ramps for risky bets.
Drive org-wide adoption of best practices that lift line yield by 2 points or cut development cycle time by 25 percent, measured across fabs rather than claimed in presentations.
Lead technical due diligence on acquisitions, partnerships, or tool selections worth tens of millions of dollars, delivering recommendations the executive team acts on.
Build the company's patent position in your domain, filing at least 3 patents per year that protect core differentiators rather than incremental tweaks.
Develop the next generation of technical leaders through structured mentoring and technical review boards that raise the bar for the whole organization.

What you will bring

Must-haves

MS or PhD in engineering or physics with 12+ years in semiconductor technology development or manufacturing.
Recognized industry authority in your domain with publications, patents, or standards contributions that peers cite.
History of setting technical strategy that an organization of 100+ engineers executed successfully, with business results to show for it, including yield, cost, and time-to-market improvements that finance can verify.
Executive-level communication: translating deep technical trade-offs into business decisions that non-technical leaders can act on.
Track record of building technical talent pipelines and succession plans that outlast any single leader.
Experience representing a company in customer technical reviews or industry consortia with credibility on both sides of the table.

Nice-to-haves

Prior startup or greenfield fab experience, including building technical organizations from scratch.
Board or advisory roles in industry organizations or standards bodies.
Cross-domain expertise spanning process, device, and product engineering.