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 43 Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2671 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 2016:
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 | 57.09% |
| Master's Degree | 44.1% |
| Doctoral Degree | 31.49% |
| Other | 2.85% |
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 | 9.6% |
| 3 to 5 years | 38.47% |
| 6 to 8 years | 17.92% |
| 9+ years | 34.01% |
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 (38.82%)
- Problem Solving (23.96%)
- Innovation (15.69%)
- Packaging And Labeling (13.22%)
- Leadership (11.98%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (11.31%)
- Self-Motivation (10.63%)
- Management (10.52%)
- Writing (9.51%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (9.47%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits (14.63%)
- Spectre Circuit Simulator (9.14%)
- Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) (27.49%)
- Electrical Engineering (42%)
- Integrated Circuit Design (27.13%)
- Transistor (15.95%)
- Circuit Design (25.89%)
- Debugging (27.05%)
- Python (Programming Language) (28.98%)
- Analog Design (21.2%)
- Cadence Virtuoso (9.26%)
- Scripting (25.29%)
- Simulations (42.97%)
- Verilog (21.68%)
- Linux Virtual Server (9.7%)
- Application Specific Integrated Circuits (31.7%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Semiconductors (9.58%)
- Digital Design (10.62%)
- Design Verification (17.07%)
- Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) (9.02%)
- Analog Electronics (20.36%)
- C (Programming Language) (9.14%)
- Architectural Design (5.73%)
- Computer Science (14.87%)
- Behavioral Modeling (7.54%)
- Artificial Intelligence (5.13%)
- Automation (13.67%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (8.66%)
- Code Coverage (3.49%)
- Electronic Engineering (3.41%)
- Computer Engineering (19.08%)
- Linux (7.09%)
- Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) (14.07%)
- Engineering Design Process (5.69%)
- Power Management (8.46%)
- Electronics (6.29%)
- Digital Electronics (5.29%)
- Perl (Programming Language) (20.84%)
- MATLAB (17.47%)
- Digital Signal Processing (8.5%)
- Integrated Circuits (16.91%)
- Nodes (Networking) (9.5%)
- New Product Development (12.71%)
- PCI Express (6.41%)
- Physics (16.99%)
- Radio Frequency (10.06%)
- Microelectronics (4.05%)
- SPICE (Simulation Tool) (8.42%)
- SystemVerilog (Direct Programming Interface) (19.6%)
- Static Timing Analysis (7.94%)
- Voltage (7.41%)
- Test Planning (17.11%)
- Tcl (Programming Language) (14.59%)
- VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) (7.41%)
- Sensors (7.21%)
- Physical Design (11.34%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Integrated Circuit Layout (1.72%)
- Low-Dropout Regulator (6.25%)
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.
- Analog Design (24.14%)
- Behavioral Modeling (8.58%)
- Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) (31.31%)
- Debugging (30.81%)
- Integrated Circuit Design (30.9%)
- Transistor (18.17%)
- Python (Programming Language) (33%)
- Linux Virtual Server (11.05%)
- Cadence Virtuoso (10.54%)
- Electrical Rule Check (2.69%)
- Application Specific Integrated Circuits (36.1%)
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
- Analog/Mixed Signal IC Design Engineer
- IC Design Engineer
- ASIC Design Verification Engineer
- Staff Analog Design Engineer
- IC Designer
- IC Layout Engineer
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
- Electronic Design Engineer
- Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer
- Hardware Test Engineer
- Manufacturing Process 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 (203)
- Boeing (90)
- Marvell Technology (85)
- Nvidia (74)
- Skyworks (61)
- Kforce (55)
- SpaceX (55)
- AMD (53)
- Texas Instruments (52)
- Northrop Grumman (49)
North Carolina
- Nvidia (8)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (4)
- Cirrus Logic (3)
- Actalent (2)
- Analog Devices (2)
- Texas Instruments (2)
- Renesas Electronics (2)
- Qorvo (2)
- Arinc International Of Canada Ulc (1)
- Skyworks (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.