Roles / Lab Validation Engineer

Lab Validation Engineer

PSI-003v1

Silicon Bring-up, Validation & ReliabilityTestIC1–IC4Individual contributor

Also known as: Bench Validation Engineer; Silicon Lab Engineer; Validation Lab Technician-Engineer

See this role on the SoC lifecycle or on the AMS lifecycle or on the Automotive lifecycle or on the Process node lifecycle or on the Space lifecycle or on the Photonics lifecycle or on the Power and compound lifecycle or on the MEMS and sensors lifecycle or on the RF lifecycle or on the Equipment lifecycle or on the Medical lifecycle or on the Industrial lifecycle or on the Hard IP lifecycle

Summary

Runs and maintains the physical silicon validation lab so that boards, instruments, thermal chambers and devices are always available, calibrated and correctly configured for validation execution.

A day in the life

Work in progressNo day-in-the-life description has been written for this role yet. If you do this work, we would welcome yours. Suggest a source or a correction

Responsibilities

Project

Work done for a product or program.

Set up and maintain bench stations comprising validation boards, power supplies, scopes, thermal forcing units and device interface hardware.
Execute scripted validation regressions overnight and on weekends and report results into the tracking system each morning.
Manage instrument calibration schedules, firmware levels and GPIB/LAN/USB connectivity across the lab inventory.
Perform ESD-safe device handling, socketing, de-socketing and board rework including component swaps and probe-point additions.
Build and verify cable harnesses, interposers, riser cards and probe fixtures for signal-integrity-critical measurements.
Maintain the lab asset and device-under-test tracking database including unit genealogy, corner lot and current location.
Support remote validation engineers by re-configuring benches, capturing photos of setups and running one-off measurements.
Triage first-level failures to distinguish setup and fixture issues from genuine silicon failures before escalation.

Function

Work that keeps the discipline running: methods, tools, suppliers and people.

Enforce lab safety, high-voltage, laser and chemical handling procedures and keep training records current.

Major tasks

Project

Produce and hand over the role's key deliverables

Documented and reproducible bench setup configurations
Nightly regression execution logs and result summaries
Lab instrument calibration and asset register
Custom fixtures, harnesses and probe adapters
DUT inventory and unit genealogy records

Develop the test solutionGeneral

Define the test plan and coverage targets
Write and debug the test program
Design or specify the test hardware

Release to productionGeneral

Correlate results across testers and sites
Optimise test time
Release the program under change control

Function

Maintain test infrastructureGeneral
- Keep program libraries and standards current
- Plan tester and hardware capacity
Improve methodsGeneral
- Review escapes and adjust coverage
- Develop data analysis tools

Works with

Post-silicon validation engineers
characterisation engineers
board designers
sample management
facilities
EHS
procurement

Typical backgrounds

Associate degree or BS in Electronics/Electrical Engineering Technology; 1–6 years in an electronics or semiconductor lab environment.

Demand signal

0 open listings right now
0 Talent Wafer employer inquiries

Counts live listings tagged to this role, and employer interest in candidates from Talent Wafer runs for this role (all runs to date). Hub activity only, not the wider market.

Comp tier (within semis)

1 / 5

Remote feasibility

Low

Semis core vs. portable

Semis-primary, transfers

Geographic hotspots

Penang, Bangalore, Hsinchu, Austin, Guadalajara, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Shanghai, Dresden

Certifications / standards training

IPC-A-610 / IPC J-STD-001 soldering certification; ANSI/ESD S20.20 handling; high-voltage and laser safety training

Transfers to (industries)

Contract electronics manufacturing, medical device test labs, automotive component test, aerospace ground support equipment, scientific research facilities

Risk if vacant

Benches sit miscalibrated or broken, regressions produce untrustworthy data, and expensive validation engineers spend their time building cables instead of finding bugs.

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