A

AMD

Designs chips for computers and AI systems

Failure Analysis Engineer - Power & Thermal

Full-TimeDeadline 6/5/27
No salary listed
Mid
Bachelor's
Secaucus, NJ, USA
In Person
Hardware EngineeringHardware Validation & Testing
No H1B Sponsorship

About the job

Requirements
  • Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
  • Deep expertise in hardware debug fundamentals, Power and Thermal failure analysis, diagnostics, structured failure reproduction, and functional test development.
  • Skilled in using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, and custom test tools to capture scope shots, validate rails, characterize thermal behavior, and support hardware debug.
  • Working knowledge of liquid-cooling systems and thermal management, including flow rates, heat dissipation, thermal transfer, and cooling-loop behavior in high-power server environments.
  • Strong background in PCB triage, board-level failure analysis, schematic review, diagnostics, and failure-isolation techniques, including experience debugging power and thermal issues from NPI through production.
  • Proficient in Python, shell scripting, and Windows and Linux environments.
  • Solid understanding of firmware, drivers, and hardware interactions, with the ability to tune firmware as needed.
  • Extensive experience in hardware verification and system integration.
  • Hands-on experience assembling, installing, and configuring computer systems and servers.
  • Able to read schematics, interpret datasheets, identify components, and perform soldering and rework for hardware debug and failure isolation.
  • Knowledge of high-speed digital design, power delivery networks, voltage regulator behavior, HBM and GDDR memory interfaces, PCIe, and DP and HDMI display outputs.
Responsibilities
  • Support internal and external requests to troubleshoot AMD GPU product failures, focusing on Power and Thermal failure analysis, PCB triage, and board-level failure isolation to improve yield, quality, and customer support.
  • Develop and execute diagnostics, scope-based measurements, and functional test DOE’s to reproduce, characterize, and isolate difficult board-, power-, and thermal-related failures.
  • Develop automation and tools to run tests and analyze results and logs.
  • Perform structured PCB triage to narrow failures to the board, component, power rail, layout interaction, or system integration level; work with the contract manufacturer and internal AMD teams to reproduce failures, isolate root cause, and determine next steps for debugging and corrective action.
  • Use schematics, layout data, lab measurements, and power and thermal behavior knowledge to understand system behavior, trace likely fault paths, form debug hypotheses, and build targeted validation plans.
  • Analyze liquid-cooling performance and thermal dissipation, including flow-related conditions, heat-transfer effectiveness, and cooling-path anomalies, to support root-cause analysis of Power and Thermal failures.
  • Document findings in the FA database and create complete failure-analysis reports for customers as needed.
  • Present findings to key stakeholders, including senior management.
  • Implement continuous improvements to failure-analysis processes and techniques, and create procedures to follow.
  • Oversee setup of new products and test stations for Failure Analysis operations.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with GPU data center infrastructure and AI/ML technologies is a plus.
  • Strong communication, documentation, collaboration, and presentation skills.

About the company

AMD designs processors, graphics chips and AI accelerators for computer makers, cloud operators and businesses that build electronic devices. Its Ryzen processors power personal computers, while EPYC processors handle work in data centers and Radeon chips render graphics. Instinct accelerators run AI models, paired with software that developers use to train models and put them into production. AMD sells chips and related computing systems through equipment makers, distributors and retail channels, and contracts with outside foundries to fabricate its semiconductor designs. It was founded in 1969 and has its headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Santa Clara, California

Founded

1969

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Data centers drive growth: AMD's revenue rose 50% to $11.5 billion in the June 2026 quarter.
  • US learning support is conditional: AMD reimburses up to $5,250 yearly for education, subject to manager approval and funding.
  • Planned demand has an anchor: AMD's July 2026 Anthropic deal targets up to two gigawatts of computing from 2027.

What critics are saying

  • Advanced chip supply relies on one foundry: TSMC makes all AMD processor and graphics wafers at 7nm or smaller.
  • Gaming is shrinking despite AI growth: AMD's gaming revenue fell 31% to $779 million in the June 2026 quarter.
  • Lab work limits location flexibility: AMD lists its Santa Clara optical-interconnect integration engineer role as on-site.

What makes AMD unique

  • Two console families use its designs: AMD designs custom processors for Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series.
  • Developers inspect its GPU software: AMD's ROCm stack is open source, while Nvidia's CUDA platform remains proprietary.
  • Chip circuitry stays adjustable: AMD sells adaptive processors whose hardware configuration changes after manufacture, without replacing the chip.

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Benefits

  • Hybrid Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-10%

1 year growth

3%

2 year growth

-1%
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Nvidia can absorb a bigger research budget far more easily than AMD, a comparison of their latest quarters shows. Nvidia spent $7.05 billion on research and development in its quarter ended July 26; AMD spent $2.53 billion in its quarter ended June 27. Research took 7.3% of Nvidia's $96.22 billion revenue, against 21.9% of AMD's $11.54 billion. A 20% rise in research spending, with all else fixed, would cost Nvidia $1.41 billion and cut its $63.73 billion operating income by 2.2%. For AMD, the $506 million cost would cut its $1.99 billion operating income by 25.4%. AMD could gain more operating leverage if adoption of its chips grows without equally fast expense growth.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 17th, 2026
Nvidia's data centres drive 92.5% of sales versus 58.1% at AMD, raising slowdown risk

Nvidia is far more exposed to a data-center slowdown than AMD, based on reported sales mix. Data centers made up about 92.5% of Nvidia's $96.221 billion quarterly revenue (quarter ended July 26), against 58.1% of AMD's $11.536 billion (quarter ended June 27). A 10% drop in data-center sales would cut Nvidia's total revenue by about 9.25% and AMD's by 5.8%. At a 20% drop, the cuts would be 18.5% and 11.6%. AMD's other units offer no sure cushion. Gaming revenue fell 31% year on year in the June quarter, while client revenue rose 23% and embedded revenue rose 19%. Valuation also differs. Trailing free-cash-flow multiples were near 41 for Nvidia and 106 for AMD as of October 16.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 17th, 2026
AMD's 160% surge in 2026 looks overvalued as Nvidia's lead widens

AMD shares have returned about 160% this year, making the chip designer the S&P 500's ninth-best performer. The gain was closer to 200% before a recent sell-off. The author argues the stock's valuation far outpaces its growth. In Q2, AMD's revenue rose 50% year over year to $11.5 billion, and its data center revenue grew 107% to $6.7 billion. Nvidia did better. Its revenue rose 106% to $96.2 billion, and its data center revenue climbed 117% to $89 billion, so its lead is widening. The author sees a fair forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 30 for both stocks. Even on 2027 earnings, AMD sits above that, while Nvidia trades at about half AMD's price. The author suggests taking AMD gains and moving them into Nvidia.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 16th, 2026
AMD stock up 157.8% in a year, with net cash at $8.84B but capex now above depreciation

AMD shares returned 157.8% over the past year, against 17.9% for the S&P 500. The company's balance sheet looks mostly safer, though it is spending more on assets. Cash and short-term investments reached $13.1 billion at the end of the quarter on June 27, 2026, up from $5.87 billion a year earlier. Total debt rose to $4.28 billion from $3.89 billion, leaving net cash of $8.84 billion. Capital spending over the past twelve months was $1.68 billion, above the $1.17 billion depreciation and amortisation charge. That breaks a pattern seen at each of the previous 16 quarter ends. Management said server chip demand was largely unforecasted. Data center revenue grew 107% to $6.7 billion in fiscal Q2 2026, and free cash flow was $1.56 billion.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 15th, 2026
Chip stocks extend rout as AI debt fears grow; CoreWeave bond yields near 15%

Chip stocks extended their slide on Thursday as worries grew over mounting debt and rising financing costs for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Nvidia fell over 2% and Advanced Micro Devices dropped 4%, while Micron Technology and SanDisk slipped about 4% and 6%. The selloff came even as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported third-quarter revenue up 51% to NT$1.49 trillion, beating forecasts. It expects fourth-quarter revenue to rise up to 61% from a year earlier. Saxo Bank's chief investment strategist, Charu Chanana, said there was no clear evidence of a systemic AI credit crisis. She warned, however, that financing strain could hit chip suppliers if operators cut spending. Yields on some CoreWeave bonds have neared 15%, which she said suggests investors are less willing to fund AI growth at any cost.