What does a hardware design engineer do?
A hardware design engineer is an individual who develops, improves, and test components and systems for computers and other devices. Hardware design engineers must develop and design hardware components, such as circuit boards, switches, and networking elements. They are required to examine technological specifications and functional requirements as well as design components and systems that will deliver the expected performance. Hardware design engineers are also involved with manufacturing hardware, and they work closely with software engineers and developers during the development cycle.
Hardware design engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real hardware design engineer resumes:
- Perform back-end flow from RTL code synthesis, timing driven physical design to achieve a timing closure type-out database.
- Lead design team through preliminary and detail design, including trade studies, requirement verification, system prototyping and testing.
- Develop hardware and user-friendly GUI driven software to automate the manufacturing test and debug of microprocessor/ DSP control VXI bus modules.
- Generate synthesis reports and automate simulation using Perl scripts.
- Implement SPI port, USB port and Ethernet port.
- Acquire insights on popular inter-board interfaces like PCI, SPI, I2C, UART, MII, RS232, etc.
- Assist lead engineer with verification of RTL for a series of latch array designs using Verilog simulation.
- Design test benches for block level verification using Vera, SVA, SystemVerilog, VMM and UVM.
- Build up initial ASIC design flow (synthesis, RTL linting, equivalence checking) for the hardware team.
- Resolve ripple issue with the ASIC core voltage and create a solution that do not impact the board layout.
- Develop UVM environment and constrained-random tests for various blocks and chip-level features using SystemVerilog.
- Develop automated tests for design verification testing, environmental qualification testing and debugging design issues.
- Perform RTL design and implementation of hardware components within an LTE/WCDMA system base on component requirement specifications.
- Involve in development of, SystemVerilog random verification environment, write direct random templates and assertion base verification.
- Embed system firmware development on a PowerPC460EX with Linux uBoot.
Hardware design engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Hardware Design Engineers are proficient in RF, PCB, and Analog. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Problem-solving skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Hardware Design Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- RF, 7%
Developed parametric tests for RF characterization, MMIC component testing, and reliability under extreme environmental conditions for space radios.
- PCB, 6%
Experienced the PCB process from beginning to end, design-review-layout-production-assembly-test.
- Analog, 6%
Modeled and analyzed high speed digital/analog circuitry for SNR and power estimation/sequencing using LTSPICE.
- Firmware, 4%
Scheduled meeting on regular basis for code and firmware specification review, developed system verification and qualification for engineering platform.
- CAD, 4%
Worked with CAD and technology leaders to define analysis flow followed by Alpha designs for 4 generations.
- Cadence, 4%
Develop signal integrity rules in Cadence Allegro Constraint Manager based on vendor product guidelines.
"rf," "pcb," and "analog" are among the most common skills that hardware design engineers use at work. You can find even more hardware design engineer responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a hardware design engineer to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "computer hardware engineers use computer programming tools to analyze the digital circuits in hardware to determine the best design." Hardware design engineers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "performed signal integrity experiments using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and spectrum analyzers to uncover complex issue with asic package. "
Problem-solving skills. Many hardware design engineer duties rely on problem-solving skills. "computer hardware engineers identify complex problems in computer hardware, develop and evaluate possible solutions, and figure out the best way to implement them.," so a hardware design engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways hardware design engineer responsibilities rely on problem-solving skills: "worked with architecture, firmware, and software teams to finalize requirements, and provide efficient solutions. "
Communication skills. This is an important skill for hardware design engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how hardware design engineer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "engineers often work on teams and must be able to communicate with other types of engineers, software developers and programmers, as well as with nontechnical team members." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a hardware design engineer: "optimized board design to minimize layers stacking and emc signal integrity performance to support 100basetx fast ethernet communication protocols. ".
The three companies that hire the most hardware design engineers are:
Choose from 10+ customizable hardware design engineer resume templates
Build a professional hardware design engineer resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your hardware design engineer resume.
Compare different hardware design engineers
Hardware design engineer vs. Senior computer engineer
A senior computer engineer's main goal is to conduct research and design different types of computer hardware and software systems. They must know to manage servers and create automation in projects. They should also know how to resolve network issues and troubleshoot problems.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between hardware design engineers and senior computer engineer. For instance, hardware design engineer responsibilities require skills such as "analog," "firmware," "cadence," and "circuit design." Whereas a senior computer engineer is skilled in "c++," "c #," "infrastructure," and "perl." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Senior computer engineers earn the highest salaries when working in the retail industry, with an average yearly salary of $137,685. On the other hand, hardware design engineers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $111,139.The education levels that senior computer engineers earn slightly differ from hardware design engineers. In particular, senior computer engineers are 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a hardware design engineer. Additionally, they're 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hardware design engineer vs. 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. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real hardware design engineer resumes. While hardware design engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "analog," "firmware," "cadence," and "circuit design," engineers use skills like "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #."
On average, engineers earn a lower salary than hardware design engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, engineers earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $97,672. Whereas hardware design engineers have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $111,139.engineers earn similar levels of education than hardware design engineers in general. They're 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hardware design engineer vs. Associate customer engineer
A verification engineer is responsible for running quality tests to the production processes to ensure high-quality outputs according to business requirements and client specifications. Verification engineers develop testing methodologies, inspect tools and equipment, and creating instructional manuals. They also resolve inconsistencies within the process, calibrating technical mechanisms, and identifying areas of improvement to enhance efficiency and build accurate deliverables. A verification engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in monitoring progress and coordinating with clients for necessary plan adjustments.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, hardware design engineers are more likely to have skills like "rf," "pcb," "analog," and "firmware." But a associate customer engineer is more likely to have skills like "linux," "pos," "troubleshoot hardware," and "laser printers."
Most associate customer engineers achieve a lower degree level compared to hardware design engineers. For example, they're 16.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hardware design engineer vs. Verification engineer
Types of hardware design engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
