How to hire a digital design engineer

How to hire a digital design engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step digital 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 digital design engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new digital design engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a digital design engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a digital 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

   Hiring the perfect digital design engineer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents digital design engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Digital Design Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Digital 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).	$39-68
   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
   Telecommunication Engineer	A telecommunication engineer is responsible for installing, testing, and repairing telecommunication systems including mobile telephone networks and fiber optic and digital satellite systems. Your day-to-day duties include diagnosing and troubleshooting systems faults, installing static and mobile antennae on masts and buildings, and designing, developing, and testing telecommunications equipment and components... Show more	$28-52

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Digital Design
   • Synthesis
   • Verilog
   • RTL
   • SOC
   • RF
   • Analog
   • ASIC
   • MATLAB
   • DSP
   • Rtl Design
   • Design Verification
   • VHDL
   • DFT

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage DSP communication applications and algorithms for cellular base stations and cable modems.
   • Perform EMI debugging and validate system to achieve compliance certification for both FCC and CE marks.
   • Perform back-end flow from RTL code synthesis, timing driven physical design to achieve a timing closure type-out database.
   • Design and build digital, analog, and RF circuitry for digital circuit test equipment
   • Incorporate the knowledge of the end-to-end ASIC design flow from RTL to GDSII file generation.
   • Redesign a parameter encoder ASIC (600k gates , 0.35u), performing VHDL updates to a largely schematic-base design.

   More digital design engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the digital design engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A digital design engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a digital design engineer in Indiana may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level digital design engineer. Additionally, a digital design engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average digital design engineer salary

   $108,993yearly

   $52.40 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level digital design engineer salary

   $82,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 13, 2025

   Average digital design engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$134,871	$65
   2	Washington	$132,424	$64
   3	Texas	$110,750	$53
   4	Arizona	$102,297	$49
   5	Massachusetts	$101,454	$49
   6	Minnesota	$99,633	$48
   7	Colorado	$95,354	$46
   8	New Hampshire	$89,560	$43
   9	Georgia	$88,640	$43
   10	Illinois	$87,751	$42
   11	Maine	$86,789	$42
   12	Oregon	$86,668	$42
   13	New York	$85,016	$41
   14	Indiana	$79,714	$38
   15	North Carolina	$78,755	$38

   Average digital design engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$180,774	$86.91	356
   2	Google	$158,860	$76.38	117
   3	Apple	$154,441	$74.25	456
   4	Hulu	$147,671	$71.00
   5	CyberCoders	$140,717	$67.65	2
   6	Citi	$138,706	$66.69	8
   7	Neiman Marcus Group	$132,688	$63.79
   8	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$130,995	$62.98	16
   9	Synaptics	$128,889	$61.97	1
   10	NBCUniversal	$128,529	$61.79	29
   11	Rambus	$127,568	$61.33	15
   12	Nordstrom	$126,682	$60.90	13
   13	CareerBuilder	$125,867	$60.51
   14	Infinera	$125,755	$60.46
   15	Velodyne Lidar	$125,457	$60.32
   16	Walgreens	$123,391	$59.32
   17	Nokia	$122,761	$59.02	25
   18	SiriusXM	$120,557	$57.96	1
   19	Core-Tech Inc	$119,240	$57.33
   20	Randstad North America, Inc.	$118,037	$56.75	7

4. Writing a digital design engineer job description

   A job description for a digital design engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a digital design engineer job description:

   Digital design engineer job description example

   At Allegro we flex. Flex@Allegro is our approach to hybrid working that empowers managers and their team members to decide where and when work will be done. Ask what Flex@Allegro can mean for you.
   
   At Allegro MicroSystems we architect, design and deploy mixed signal sensors. We are looking for motivated candidates that wish to be in touch with the full development cycle, from Product Definition until Place and Route. As an integral part of the development team, you will be exposed to variety of advanced tools and methodologies based on application specific requirement. This opportunity will also allow an individual to contribute within the framework of a broader experienced analog, mixed-signal and digital team.
   Typical tasks for a Jr. Digital Design Engineer include:
   Write design and microarchitecture specifications.Digital logic design using Verilog or SystemVerilog, for serial interfaces, state machines, memory controllers and custom algorithms.Synthesis of RTL with timing and area constraints for ASICs and FPGAsExposure to Design For Test (DFT), including scan techniques, and MBIST.Assist in debugging test failures.Static Timing Analysis. Assist the verification teams in Verification Plans development.
   Skills and Qualifications:
   MS Degree in Electrical Engineering or affiliated disciplines.Experience with Verilog, SystemVerilog and Synthesis of Digital Circuits.Experience in the specification and implementation of Verification Tests and Debugging skills are required.Knowledge of STA, DFT techniques for Digital VLSI and Power Optimization strategies and micro-architectures are a plus.Knowledge of Tcl and Python or similar is a plus.
   
   Candidates should also be able to demonstrate:
   Good presentation skills in EnglishA high level of commitment and self-motivation The ability to work as part of a world-wide development team with diverse engineering disciplines.
   
   At Allegro, we are committed to providing a harassment-free environment of mutual respect to fuel innovation through inclusive thought collaboration. Allegro is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, parental status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. Allegro makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find digital design engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with digital design engineer candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   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 digital design engineer

   Once you have selected a candidate for the digital design engineer position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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 digital design engineer?