How to hire a circuit design engineer

How to hire a circuit design engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step circuit design engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a circuit design engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new circuit design engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a circuit design engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a circuit design engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A circuit design engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, circuit design engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents circuit design engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Circuit Design Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Circuit Design Engineer	Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacturing of electrical equipment, such as electric motors, radar and navigation systems, communications systems, and power generation equipment. Electronics engineers design and develop electronic equipment, such as broadcast and communications systems—from portable music players to global positioning systems (GPSs).	$40-65
   Engineering Technician	An Engineering Technician's duties vary according to the industry or company, whether mechanical, industrial, civil, agricultural, or more. However, most of the time, the responsibilities often revolve around resolving technical issues, working with and assisting Engineers in building, assembling, designing, gathering and testing data, and conducting more manual activities... Show more	$17-46
   Engineering Trainee	An engineering trainee is responsible for shadowing engineers in their duties and performing administrative tasks as needed. Engineering trainees assist the engineers in inspecting construction sites and conducting field research... Show more	$20-39

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Circuit Design
   • CMOS
   • RF
   • Verilog
   • CAD
   • FPGA
   • Cadence Virtuoso
   • IC
   • MATLAB
   • Mentor Graphics
   • VHDL
   • PCB
   • IP
   • Extraction

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead cross-site LVR task force to get full set of schematics match to functional target RTL model.
   • Process orders for VPN long distance service and manage the VPN dial plan to ensure no duplications.
   • Manage client order request generate from sales, provisioning and designing data, voice and IP network services.
   • Size transistors to reduce RC time constant in dynamic flip-flops and to achieve equivalent performance in high frequency.
   • Lead a small design team to deliver a 90 nm LP 125 MHz medium-size Gigabit Ethernet PHY DSP.
   • Manage a team that include hardware engineers, software engineers, and verifications engineers to evaluate the McORE 200 microprocessor.

   More circuit design engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your circuit design engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A circuit design engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a circuit design engineer in Wisconsin may be lower than in Rhode Island, and an entry-level circuit design engineer usually earns less than a senior-level circuit design engineer. Additionally, a circuit design engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average circuit design engineer salary

   $107,694yearly

   $51.78 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level circuit design engineer salary

   $84,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average circuit design engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$125,730	$60
   2	California	$125,546	$60
   3	Texas	$109,447	$53
   4	Florida	$103,086	$50
   5	Alabama	$102,480	$49
   6	Maryland	$102,159	$49
   7	Massachusetts	$101,866	$49
   8	Michigan	$101,860	$49
   9	Arizona	$98,604	$47
   10	Colorado	$96,351	$46
   11	Utah	$92,282	$44
   12	North Carolina	$87,740	$42
   13	New York	$87,729	$42
   14	Iowa	$87,491	$42
   15	Illinois	$86,641	$42
   16	Oregon	$75,859	$36

   Average circuit design engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$141,429	$67.99	451
   2	CyberCoders	$132,193	$63.55
   3	Cisco	$123,667	$59.46	39
   4	NVIDIA	$121,819	$58.57	93
   5	Sandia National Labs	$116,916	$56.21	14
   6	Infinera	$115,322	$55.44
   7	Managed Staffing	$115,233	$55.40	5
   8	PEAK Technical Staffing USA	$114,707	$55.15	1
   9	Oxford Solutions	$114,686	$55.14
   10	Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (Semiconductor & Display)	$114,448	$55.02	31
   11	Randstad North America, Inc.	$114,284	$54.94	8
   12	Rambus	$113,825	$54.72	9
   13	Applied Materials	$113,432	$54.53	50
   14	Nokia	$112,964	$54.31	25
   15	System One	$112,410	$54.04	39
   16	Mattson	$111,957	$53.83
   17	ASIC North	$111,715	$53.71
   18	ASML Holding	$111,294	$53.51	4
   19	OmniVision Technologies	$111,144	$53.43	11
   20	Qualcomm	$110,218	$52.99	113

4. Writing a circuit design engineer job description

   A circuit design engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a circuit design engineer job description:

   Circuit design engineer job description example

   NVIDIA has continuously reinvented itself over two decades. Our invention of the GPU in 1999 fueled the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics, and revolutionized parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI - the next era of computing. NVIDIA is a “learning machine” that constantly evolves by adapting to new opportunities that are hard to tackle, that only we can pursue, and for that matter to the world. This is our life's work, to amplify human creativity and intelligence.
   
   Are you interested in designing circuits for the next generation of AI chips? Join a team of dedicated engineers developing the custom SRAM circuits that help power these chips. You will have the chance to create novel low power and high performance circuits, and develop in-house design and verification flows for SRAM design that would be used across all NVIDIA products.
   What you'll be doing:
   Designing best-in-class SRAM circuits on state-of-the-art technology nodes Optimizing circuits for area, performance and power Working with mask designers to craft dense pitch-matched layout Verifying for functionality, robustness and electrical integrity Running flows to streamline design automation, data collection and analysis, and ensure high yielding silicon
   
   What we need to see:
   BSEE required/MSEE preferred in Electrical or Computer Engineering with demonstrated experience (or equivalent experience)2+ years of experience in digital circuit or SRAM memory design.Experience with circuit design workflows including:Spice simulation and analysis Power characterization EM/IR analysis Familiarity with scripting languages - Python, Perl, Shell
   
   NVIDIA is widely considered to be the leader of AI computing, and one of the technology world's most desirable employers. We have some of the most brilliant and hardworking people in the world working for us. If you're creative and autonomous, we want to hear from you.
   
   NVIDIA is committed to fostering a diverse work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right circuit design engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with circuit design engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit circuit design engineers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your circuit design engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit circuit design engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit circuit design engineers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new circuit design engineer

   Once you've found the circuit design engineer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new circuit design engineer. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a circuit design engineer?