STEM OPT Hardware Engineer Jobs
Hardware Engineer roles in semiconductors, embedded systems, and PCB design are strong matches for STEM OPT. Your STEM degree qualifies you for the 24-month extension, giving you up to 36 months of work authorization, provided your employer is enrolled in E-Verify and you maintain a valid I-983 training plan.
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Get Access To All JobsDate: Jun 17, 2026
Location: North Reading, MA, US
Company: Teradyne
We are the global test and automation specialists, powering next-generation technologies through sophisticated solutions. Behind every electronic device you use, Teradyne's test technology ensures your device works right the first time, every time! Our portfolio of automation solutions help manufacturers to develop and deliver products quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Together, Teradyne companies deliver manufacturing automation across industries and applications around the world!
We attract, develop, and retain a high-performance workforce, comprised of people with diverse backgrounds and a shared drive for excellence. We strive to foster a positive and inclusive work environment that helps employees, and communities, thrive.
About the Role
The Hardware Engineer in the DC hardware group is responsible for designing, developing, and validating high-current, high-power sourcing and switching hardware used in semiconductor automated test equipment. This role focuses on power delivery architecture, fast transient response, load regulation, protection systems, thermal management, and system-level integration to support advanced SoCs, high-power devices, and complex test conditions. The engineer participates on power-delivery modules from concept through production release and collaborates across hardware, firmware, mechanical, and test engineering teams.
What You’ll Do
Power Delivery Architecture & Design:
- Assist in architecting and designing high-current power delivery modules (from mA to 100+ A) for ATE systems.
- Develop fast-response voltage/current sourcing circuits optimized for dynamic load conditions, droop control, and transient performance.
- Codesign advanced power-stage topologies (buck, multiphase, linear, hybrid) tailored for semiconductor test environments.
- Design for wide operating ranges, including high-voltage rails, low-voltage/high-current rails, and dynamic voltage scaling.
Power Integrity & Transient Performance:
- Optimize power integrity across the full PDN (instrumentation cabling loadboard DUT).
- Model and mitigate droop, overshoot, ringing, and ground bounce under fast load steps.
- Perform simulation and analysis of loop stability, compensation networks, and transient response.
- Ensure compliance with DUT power-up sequencing, ramp rates, and timing constraints.
Protection, Reliability & Safety:
- Design robust protection systems including OCP, OVP, OTP, short-circuit protection, and fault-isolation mechanisms.
- Implement fast fault-response circuits to protect sensitive DUTs and ATE hardware.
- Conduct reliability analysis, derating studies, and thermal modeling for long-term stability.
- Support HALT/HASS, stress testing, and failure-mode investigations.
Switching, Routing & Load Management:
- Develop efficient high-current solutions for routing power to multiple DUT pins or sites.
- Engineer low-impedance, low-loss paths for high-current delivery with attention to thermal and mechanical constraints.
- Collaborate with mechanical teams on heatsinking, airflow, and thermal interface design.
Bring-Up, Debug & Validation:
- Bring-up of new power-delivery modules, performing root-cause analysis of analog, digital, and mixed-signal issues.
- Execute characterization plans for load regulation, transient response, efficiency, thermal behavior, and fault handling.
- Use advanced lab equipment (power analyzers, high-bandwidth scopes, current probes, electronic loads) to validate performance.
ATE System Integration:
- Ensure power-delivery modules meet ATE system-level requirements for timing, triggering, synchronization, and software control.
- Collaborate with firmware teams on control loops, telemetry, calibration, and fault-reporting algorithms.
- Create and use ATE test programs to validate instrument and system level designs.
- Support integration with loadboards, probecards, and DUT power-delivery networks.
Key Responsibilities
- Debug hardware to the component level
- Troubleshoot hardware using System SW Tools
- Perform design verification testing on Teradyne systems and instruments
- Re-design instruments to improve performance or replace obsolete components
- Drive cost reduction initiatives and product enhancements
- Work on engineering related yield improvements
- Integrate with Account Teams, Global Customer Service, Operations and Supply Line Management
All About You
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
- 2–5+ years of experience in power electronics, or instrumentation hardware design.
- Proficiency with SPICE simulation, PDN modeling tools, and PCB design tools.
- Hands-on experience with power measurement equipment and high-current test setups.
- Strong analytical and debugging skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of dynamic voltage scaling, digital power control, and telemetry systems.
- Familiarity with high-current connectors, cabling, and low-impedance mechanical design.
- Understanding of thermal modeling, heatsink design, and system-level thermal constraints.
- Experience with reliability engineering, derating, and long-term stress testing.
Compensation:
The base salary range for this role is $92,200 - $147,600. This range is a good faith estimate, and the amount of base salary will correspond with experience and skill set. This range can also fluctuate depending on demand and location.
Benefits:
Teradyne offers a variety of robust health and well-being benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance, paid vacation & holidays, tuition assistance programs, and more.
LI-MR1
Job Segment: Thermal Engineering, Testing, Hardware Engineer, Electronics Engineer, Firmware, Engineering, Technology
Date: Jun 17, 2026
Location: North Reading, MA, US
Company: Teradyne
We are the global test and automation specialists, powering next-generation technologies through sophisticated solutions. Behind every electronic device you use, Teradyne's test technology ensures your device works right the first time, every time! Our portfolio of automation solutions help manufacturers to develop and deliver products quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Together, Teradyne companies deliver manufacturing automation across industries and applications around the world!
We attract, develop, and retain a high-performance workforce, comprised of people with diverse backgrounds and a shared drive for excellence. We strive to foster a positive and inclusive work environment that helps employees, and communities, thrive.
About the Role
The Hardware Engineer in the DC hardware group is responsible for designing, developing, and validating high-current, high-power sourcing and switching hardware used in semiconductor automated test equipment. This role focuses on power delivery architecture, fast transient response, load regulation, protection systems, thermal management, and system-level integration to support advanced SoCs, high-power devices, and complex test conditions. The engineer participates on power-delivery modules from concept through production release and collaborates across hardware, firmware, mechanical, and test engineering teams.
What You’ll Do
Power Delivery Architecture & Design:
- Assist in architecting and designing high-current power delivery modules (from mA to 100+ A) for ATE systems.
- Develop fast-response voltage/current sourcing circuits optimized for dynamic load conditions, droop control, and transient performance.
- Codesign advanced power-stage topologies (buck, multiphase, linear, hybrid) tailored for semiconductor test environments.
- Design for wide operating ranges, including high-voltage rails, low-voltage/high-current rails, and dynamic voltage scaling.
Power Integrity & Transient Performance:
- Optimize power integrity across the full PDN (instrumentation cabling loadboard DUT).
- Model and mitigate droop, overshoot, ringing, and ground bounce under fast load steps.
- Perform simulation and analysis of loop stability, compensation networks, and transient response.
- Ensure compliance with DUT power-up sequencing, ramp rates, and timing constraints.
Protection, Reliability & Safety:
- Design robust protection systems including OCP, OVP, OTP, short-circuit protection, and fault-isolation mechanisms.
- Implement fast fault-response circuits to protect sensitive DUTs and ATE hardware.
- Conduct reliability analysis, derating studies, and thermal modeling for long-term stability.
- Support HALT/HASS, stress testing, and failure-mode investigations.
Switching, Routing & Load Management:
- Develop efficient high-current solutions for routing power to multiple DUT pins or sites.
- Engineer low-impedance, low-loss paths for high-current delivery with attention to thermal and mechanical constraints.
- Collaborate with mechanical teams on heatsinking, airflow, and thermal interface design.
Bring-Up, Debug & Validation:
- Bring-up of new power-delivery modules, performing root-cause analysis of analog, digital, and mixed-signal issues.
- Execute characterization plans for load regulation, transient response, efficiency, thermal behavior, and fault handling.
- Use advanced lab equipment (power analyzers, high-bandwidth scopes, current probes, electronic loads) to validate performance.
ATE System Integration:
- Ensure power-delivery modules meet ATE system-level requirements for timing, triggering, synchronization, and software control.
- Collaborate with firmware teams on control loops, telemetry, calibration, and fault-reporting algorithms.
- Create and use ATE test programs to validate instrument and system level designs.
- Support integration with loadboards, probecards, and DUT power-delivery networks.
Key Responsibilities
- Debug hardware to the component level
- Troubleshoot hardware using System SW Tools
- Perform design verification testing on Teradyne systems and instruments
- Re-design instruments to improve performance or replace obsolete components
- Drive cost reduction initiatives and product enhancements
- Work on engineering related yield improvements
- Integrate with Account Teams, Global Customer Service, Operations and Supply Line Management
All About You
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
- 2–5+ years of experience in power electronics, or instrumentation hardware design.
- Proficiency with SPICE simulation, PDN modeling tools, and PCB design tools.
- Hands-on experience with power measurement equipment and high-current test setups.
- Strong analytical and debugging skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of dynamic voltage scaling, digital power control, and telemetry systems.
- Familiarity with high-current connectors, cabling, and low-impedance mechanical design.
- Understanding of thermal modeling, heatsink design, and system-level thermal constraints.
- Experience with reliability engineering, derating, and long-term stress testing.
Compensation:
The base salary range for this role is $92,200 - $147,600. This range is a good faith estimate, and the amount of base salary will correspond with experience and skill set. This range can also fluctuate depending on demand and location.
Benefits:
Teradyne offers a variety of robust health and well-being benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance, paid vacation & holidays, tuition assistance programs, and more.
LI-MR1
Job Segment: Thermal Engineering, Testing, Hardware Engineer, Electronics Engineer, Firmware, Engineering, Technology
See all 159+ STEM OPT Hardware Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new STEM OPT Hardware Engineer Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization as a Hardware Engineer
Verify your CIP code before applying
Check that your degree's CIP code maps to an approved STEM field in the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. Electrical engineering, computer engineering, and materials science all qualify, but interdisciplinary degrees sometimes require a closer review with your DSO.
Confirm E-Verify enrollment during interviews
Ask the recruiter directly whether the company is enrolled in E-Verify before accepting an offer. Hardware teams at defense contractors, semiconductor fabs, and ASIC design firms are typically enrolled, but smaller embedded-systems consultancies often are not.
Align your I-983 to actual hardware deliverables
Your training plan must connect your daily tasks, such as FPGA validation, signal integrity testing, or PCB bring-up, to specific learning objectives tied to your STEM degree. Vague plans describing 'general engineering tasks' get rejected by DSOs and complicate renewals.
Use OFLC Wage Search to benchmark hardware roles
Look up prevailing wages for hardware engineer positions by SOC code and location using OFLC Wage Search before negotiations. Your employer's LCA wage commitment must meet the DOL prevailing wage, and knowing the floor strengthens your position when discussing compensation.
Target employers with STEM OPT extension history on Migrate Mate
Search for Hardware Engineer openings on Migrate Mate, which filters for E-Verify-enrolled employers with documented STEM OPT hiring history. This cuts the time you'd otherwise spend manually screening postings where OPT authorization is unconfirmed.
File your extension request 90 days before OPT expires
Submit your STEM OPT extension application to USCIS no later than 90 days before your current OPT end date. A timely filing triggers automatic cap-gap protection, keeping your work authorization intact while USCIS adjudicates the I-765.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my engineering degree qualify me for the STEM OPT extension as a hardware engineer?
Your degree qualifies if its CIP code appears on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. Electrical engineering, computer engineering, and materials science are all eligible. If your degree is in an adjacent field like applied physics or mechatronics, confirm the exact CIP code with your DSO before relying on it for the extension. Interdisciplinary programs sometimes carry non-STEM CIP codes that disqualify the extension even when the coursework is technical.
What E-Verify requirement applies to hardware engineer employers hiring STEM OPT students?
Any employer hiring you on a STEM OPT extension must be enrolled in E-Verify at the specific worksite where you'll be working, not just at the company's headquarters. If you're placed at a client site or a subsidiary, that location must also be enrolled. You can verify enrollment by asking HR for the company's E-Verify company ID or by confirming with your DSO, who is required to check enrollment before recommending the extension.
What should my I-983 training plan include for a hardware engineering role?
Your I-983 must document specific training goals tied to your STEM degree, the technical skills you'll develop, supervision arrangements, and how the role relates to your academic program. For hardware engineering, this means listing concrete objectives like designing and validating PCB layouts, characterizing analog circuits, or writing firmware for embedded systems. Generic descriptions of 'engineering duties' are insufficient. Your employer's supervisor signs the plan, and your DSO reviews it before the extension is recommended.
How does cap-gap protection work if I'm transitioning from STEM OPT to H-1B as a hardware engineer?
If your employer files an H-1B visa petition on your behalf before your STEM OPT expires and USCIS selects it in the lottery, cap-gap automatically extends your OPT work authorization through September 30 of that fiscal year. You can continue working in your hardware engineering role during this period without interruption. If your petition isn't selected, your STEM OPT remains valid until its original end date, after which you'd need to depart or change status.
Where can I find hardware engineer jobs that are confirmed to accept STEM OPT students?
Migrate Mate lists Hardware Engineer openings filtered by employers enrolled in E-Verify, which is the threshold requirement for STEM OPT hiring. You can search by role, location, and industry to focus on semiconductor companies, defense contractors, and embedded systems firms that have demonstrated experience sponsoring OPT students. Checking E-Verify enrollment status before applying saves time and avoids offers you can't legally accept on a STEM OPT extension.