How to hire a failure analysis engineer

How to hire a failure analysis engineer, step by step

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

What does a failure analysis engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a failure analysis 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 failure analysis 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of failure analysis engineers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Failure Analysis Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Failure Analysis Engineer	Industrial engineers find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. They devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to make a product or provide a service.	$31-59
   Product Development Engineer	A Product Development Engineer is responsible for creating and testing new product designs. They collaborate with market researchers to evaluate market needs, existing competition, and potential costs.	$30-54
   Engineer	Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects... Show more	$31-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Corrective Action
   • Failure Analysis
   • Data Analysis
   • Test Equipment
   • Failure Analysis Techniques
   • IC
   • Fault Isolation
   • Product Development
   • Lab Equipment
   • RF
   • CMOS
   • Product Quality
   • IR
   • Customer Returns

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
   • Create numerous Java and C++ base reusable components for both GUI and system services.
   • Lead team of engineers and technicians in the populating of FMEA failure modes and effects data.
   • Complete die-level electrical analysis on defective IC's from quality failures, customer returns, reliability testing and yield improvement.
   • Use a variety of strong acids and bases for package/IC etching.
   • Assemble electronic cash registers, network servers and install OS and test.

   More failure analysis engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your failure analysis engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A failure analysis 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 failure analysis engineer in Iowa may be lower than in California, and an entry-level failure analysis engineer usually earns less than a senior-level failure analysis engineer. Additionally, a failure analysis 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 failure analysis engineer salary

   $91,071yearly

   $43.78 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level failure analysis engineer salary

   $66,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average failure analysis engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$120,796	$58
   2	Washington	$109,563	$53
   3	New Mexico	$109,137	$52
   4	Texas	$99,251	$48
   5	Arizona	$94,338	$45
   6	Colorado	$92,842	$45
   7	Utah	$92,441	$44
   8	Oregon	$91,206	$44
   9	Massachusetts	$86,672	$42
   10	Michigan	$86,277	$41
   11	Florida	$82,122	$39
   12	New York	$79,955	$38
   13	Illinois	$79,620	$38
   14	Iowa	$73,721	$35
   15	Maine	$73,426	$35
   16	Indiana	$64,879	$31

   Average failure analysis engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$151,797	$72.98	266
   2	Apple	$143,763	$69.12	87
   3	Google	$137,663	$66.18	12
   4	Amazon	$123,563	$59.41	134
   5	NVIDIA	$121,116	$58.23	19
   6	Cisco	$118,045	$56.75	38
   7	Fitbit	$116,045	$55.79
   8	Western Digital	$111,839	$53.77	5
   9	Arista Networks	$106,992	$51.44	5
   10	Fortinet	$105,368	$50.66	7
   11	Applied Materials	$104,856	$50.41	63
   12	Lumileds	$103,834	$49.92
   13	Silicon Labs	$103,350	$49.69	1
   14	Intuitive Surgical	$102,346	$49.20	9
   15	Texas Instruments	$102,176	$49.12	29
   16	CyberCoders	$102,136	$49.10
   17	Cirrus Logic	$101,894	$48.99	1
   18	Amd	$101,470	$48.78	5
   19	OmniVision Technologies	$101,353	$48.73	3
   20	Infineon Technologies	$101,197	$48.65	4

4. Writing a failure analysis engineer job description

   A job description for a failure analysis 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 failure analysis engineer job description:

   Failure analysis engineer job description example

   Our laboratory in CA provides test, engineering, and reliability services to a broad spectrum of technology-based sectors. We are proud to support our clients who range from startup stages to Fortune 500 global industry leaders. Our failure analysis staff succeed within a challenging but inspiring world of innovation; helping to support our clients research, develop, understand, and refine technologies that shape consumer electronics, medical device, automotive, military, aerospace, and manufacturing industries, just to mention a few. We demonstrate a hands-on approach to technical expertise by utilizing leading-edge methods and tools to attain insight that fuel engineering. If you enjoy being immersed in technology, dreaming about the future, tackling challenges head-on, problem-solving through teamwork, flexing your technical abilities and taking pride in accomplishments, then join us to live this every day.
   Examples of the type of investigations our analysis work on:
   
   Identify semiconductor fabrication/manufacturing process defects as well as a circuit design related issues in a non-functioning, first Silicon product designed to be used in a novel medical device application: With this failure insight, the client was able to quickly implement appropriate changes and corrections to fabrication/re-spin a working product to further their new product launch activities.
   
   Isolate and identify the exact cause of a product failure in the field, to an electrical phenomenon event produced uniquely by a particular application: With this information, the client was able to initiate a strategic remedy to avert failures for these select applications, rather than having to invest unnecessary effort and cost to address and fix for their entire product line.
   
   In this role, you will employ a variety of advanced tools and techniques to help support diverse aspects of a client's needs, which includes conducting technical discussions to understand the scope and expectations, designing and executing appropriate analytical plan/method, consulting with value-added insight and result interpretation, and recommending suitable next steps. This is a dynamic role where you will be exposed to ever-changing and evolving array of samples on the path of innovation.
   
   If these types of cases excite you, enjoy a challenge, comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with a team centric approach to solving problems, we encourage you to apply.
   
   This role is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) therefore all accepted applicants must be U.S. Persons as defined by ITAR: U.S. Person is a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (i.e., "Green Card Holder"), Political Asylee, or Refugee.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find failure analysis engineers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any failure analysis engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level failure analysis engineers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting failure analysis engineers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to 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 failure analysis engineer

   Once you have selected a candidate for the failure analysis 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 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.

   To prepare for the new failure analysis engineer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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 failure analysis engineer?