Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
An Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer designs and develops integrated circuits used in electronic devices and communications systems. Designs circuitry and builds circuitry frameworks for products and systems.
Job Outlook
There were 54 Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2790 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Hardware Engineer industry, which includes the Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $158,126.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $124,702.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $140,668.
Education and Experience
Posted Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 59.32% |
| Master's Degree | 43.84% |
| Doctoral Degree | 31.08% |
| Other | 2.62% |
Posted Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 12.04% |
| 3 to 5 years | 35.76% |
| 6 to 8 years | 20.76% |
| 9+ years | 31.44% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (36.88%)
- Problem Solving (26.95%)
- Innovation (15.66%)
- Packaging And Labeling (13.33%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (11.86%)
- Self-Motivation (11.29%)
- Management (10.72%)
- Leadership (10.72%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (9.71%)
- Planning (8.92%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits (13.52%)
- Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) (8.46%)
- Spectre Circuit Simulator (9.19%)
- Behavioral Modeling (7.81%)
- Electrical Engineering (42.4%)
- Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) (27.54%)
- Python (Programming Language) (26.73%)
- Integrated Circuit Design (25.28%)
- Transistor (15.82%)
- Debugging (26.08%)
- Simulations (41.25%)
- Application Specific Integrated Circuits (33.82%)
- Electronic Oscillator (5.52%)
- Cadence Virtuoso (8.62%)
- Linux Virtual Server (8.92%)
- Analog Design (21.83%)
- Scripting (23.63%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Semiconductors (9.92%)
- Design Verification (15.01%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (7.35%)
- Analog Electronics (19.72%)
- Automation (12.6%)
- Electronic Circuits (4.75%)
- Architectural Design (6.78%)
- Digital Signal Processing (9%)
- Perl (Programming Language) (19.95%)
- Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) (13.9%)
- Computer Science (14.36%)
- Engineering Design Process (5.78%)
- Circuit Design (25.85%)
- Digital Electronics (4.98%)
- Design For Manufacturability (8.16%)
- Test Planning (14.82%)
- PCI Express (6.36%)
- Computer Engineering (18.38%)
- Software Engineering (4.37%)
- Physics (17.54%)
- Power Management (9.27%)
- Radio Frequency (10.38%)
- SystemVerilog (Direct Programming Interface) (18.5%)
- MATLAB (18.5%)
- Nodes (Networking) (9.42%)
- Schematic Capture (5.9%)
- New Product Development (11.26%)
- SPICE (Simulation Tool) (7.89%)
- Physical Design (14.94%)
- Tcl (Programming Language) (14.36%)
- Integrated Circuits (15.55%)
- Verilog (20.49%)
- Voltage (7.7%)
- Test Equipment (3.49%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- SystemC (1.26%)
- Jitter (2.64%)
- Low-Dropout Regulator (6.32%)
- Electrical Rule Check (2.53%)
- Chip Design (3.52%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) (43.6%)
- Integrated Circuit Design (40.02%)
- Simulations (65.31%)
- Cadence Virtuoso (13.64%)
- Electrical Rule Check (4%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Analog Design Engineer
- Analog IC Design Engineer
- Analog/Mixed Signal Design Engineer
- ASIC Verification Engineer
- Developer
- Analog/Mixed Signal IC Design Engineer
- IC Design Engineer
- Staff Analog Design Engineer
- ASIC Design Verification Engineer
- IC Designer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Hardware Engineer (General)
- Hardware Design Engineer
- Computer Circuit Design Engineer
- Electronics Engineer (General)
- Signal Processing Engineer
- Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer
- Electronic Design Engineer
- Mask Layout Designer
- Hardware Test Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Apple (194)
- Ericsson (111)
- Boeing (89)
- Marvell Technology (88)
- Intel (75)
- Nvidia (73)
- Kforce (66)
- SpaceX (63)
- Honeywell International (62)
- Skyworks (60)
North Carolina
- Nvidia (8)
- Ericsson (8)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (4)
- Cirrus Logic (4)
- Analog Devices (4)
- 84 Lumber (2)
- Renesas Electronics (2)
- Qorvo (2)
- Actalent (1)
- Arinc International Of Canada Ulc (1)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.