STEM OPT R D Engineering Jobs
R&D Engineering roles in product development, materials science, and systems design qualify for the STEM OPT 24-month extension when your employer is enrolled in E-Verify. Your engineering, computer science, or applied sciences degree ties directly to the research and development work these positions require.
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Get Access To All JobsDate posted 06/17/2026
Category Engineering
Hire Type Employee
Job ID 17670
Base Salary Range $101000-$151000
Remote Eligible No
Date Posted 06/17/2026
We Are
Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.
You Are
You enjoy solving important problems and want to develop world-leading products. You are comfortable working in a large codebase where understanding the system is half the job and improving it is the other half. You talk to the people who will use what you build, you figure out what actually matters. Debugging energizes you because it means you get to understand something deeply enough to fix it right. At Synopsys, you will work on RedHawk-SC, a platform that helps the semiconductor industry solve power and reliability problems that directly affect whether the next generation of chips actually work.
What You'll Be Doing
- Design, develop, and own new capabilities in RedHawk-SC, a distributed big-data analytics platform used for power integrity and reliability analysis in advanced SoC designs
- Write production-quality C++ code that is efficient, maintainable, and scalable across large semiconductor datasets and complex IC architectures
- Diagnose and resolve software defects across the codebase, including performance bottlenecks, memory issues, and algorithmic inefficiencies
- Build unit, regression, and system-level tests that validate new features and ensure reliability across distributed processing environments
- Optimize tool runtime and memory usage to handle designs at 3nm and below, including FinFET, 3D-IC, and stacked-die architectures
- Collaborate with technical leads, product managers, and application engineers to refine requirements and deliver features that solve real customer design closure challenges
- Contribute to code reviews and help establish best practices across the engineering team
The Impact You Will Have
- Enable semiconductor designers to close power and reliability issues faster and with higher confidence, directly affecting tape-out schedules for cutting-edge chips
- Improve the performance and scalability of RedHawk-SC so it can handle the next generation of IC designs that are larger, denser, and more complex
- Reduce tool runtime and memory footprint, giving engineers more iterations and faster feedback during critical design phases
- Deliver features that address real-world challenges in electromigration, thermal effects, and power noise integrity for chips powering AI, mobile, and automotive applications
- Strengthen the quality and maintainability of the codebase, making it easier for the team to move quickly and confidently as requirements evolve
- Help shape the technical direction of a platform used by leading semiconductor companies worldwide
- Build testing infrastructure that catches issues early and keeps the platform stable as new capabilities are added
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field, or Master's with 2+ years of relevant experience
- 2+ years of hands-on experience writing C++, with a strong command of the language and its performance characteristics
- Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and debugging techniques applied to complex software systems
- Working knowledge of Linux operating systems and development workflows
- Understanding of electronic design at gate level or transistor level, enough to reason about what the software is modeling
- Experience with Python is a plus, particularly for scripting, automation, or tooling
- Background in distributed processing, large-scale commercial software development, or ASIC power delivery network simulation is a plus
Who You Are
You can look at a performance problem and figure out whether it is an algorithm issue, a data structure issue, or an architecture issue, and you know which one to fix first. You write code that other engineers can read, modify, and trust six months later without needing you in the room. You ask questions when requirements are unclear and you push back when a proposed solution does not match the actual problem. You treat deadlines seriously and you know how to break down a medium-sized project into pieces that can be delivered, tested, and integrated incrementally. You are comfortable being the person others come to when they need to understand a specific part of the system or debug something tricky. You care about the end user experience, even when the end user is another engineer trying to close timing on a 5 billion transistor design.
The Team You'll Be Part Of
You will join the RedHawk-SC Research and Development team in Austin, a group focused on building state-of-the-art software for semiconductor power and reliability analysis. The team works on a purpose-built platform that handles distributed big-data analytics for advanced SoC designs, tackling challenges in electromigration, thermal effects, and power noise integrity across emerging architectures like 3D-IC, FinFET, and stacked-die. This is a team that values deep technical work, clear communication, and delivering tools that directly affect whether the most complex chips in the world can actually be manufactured.
Rewards and Benefits
We offer a comprehensive range of health, wellness, and financial benefits to cater to your needs. Our total rewards include both monetary and non-monetary offerings. Your recruiter will provide more details about the salary range and benefits during the hiring process. At Synopsys, we want talented people of every background to feel valued and supported to do their best work. Synopsys considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, military veteran status, or disability.
In addition to the base salary, this role may be eligible for an annual bonus, equity, and other discretionary bonuses. Synopsys offers comprehensive health, wellness, and financial benefits as part of a competitive total rewards package. The actual compensation offered will be based on a number of job-related factors, including location, skills, experience, and education. Your recruiter can provide more details.
Date posted 06/17/2026
Category Engineering
Hire Type Employee
Job ID 17670
Base Salary Range $101000-$151000
Remote Eligible No
Date Posted 06/17/2026
We Are
Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.
You Are
You enjoy solving important problems and want to develop world-leading products. You are comfortable working in a large codebase where understanding the system is half the job and improving it is the other half. You talk to the people who will use what you build, you figure out what actually matters. Debugging energizes you because it means you get to understand something deeply enough to fix it right. At Synopsys, you will work on RedHawk-SC, a platform that helps the semiconductor industry solve power and reliability problems that directly affect whether the next generation of chips actually work.
What You'll Be Doing
- Design, develop, and own new capabilities in RedHawk-SC, a distributed big-data analytics platform used for power integrity and reliability analysis in advanced SoC designs
- Write production-quality C++ code that is efficient, maintainable, and scalable across large semiconductor datasets and complex IC architectures
- Diagnose and resolve software defects across the codebase, including performance bottlenecks, memory issues, and algorithmic inefficiencies
- Build unit, regression, and system-level tests that validate new features and ensure reliability across distributed processing environments
- Optimize tool runtime and memory usage to handle designs at 3nm and below, including FinFET, 3D-IC, and stacked-die architectures
- Collaborate with technical leads, product managers, and application engineers to refine requirements and deliver features that solve real customer design closure challenges
- Contribute to code reviews and help establish best practices across the engineering team
The Impact You Will Have
- Enable semiconductor designers to close power and reliability issues faster and with higher confidence, directly affecting tape-out schedules for cutting-edge chips
- Improve the performance and scalability of RedHawk-SC so it can handle the next generation of IC designs that are larger, denser, and more complex
- Reduce tool runtime and memory footprint, giving engineers more iterations and faster feedback during critical design phases
- Deliver features that address real-world challenges in electromigration, thermal effects, and power noise integrity for chips powering AI, mobile, and automotive applications
- Strengthen the quality and maintainability of the codebase, making it easier for the team to move quickly and confidently as requirements evolve
- Help shape the technical direction of a platform used by leading semiconductor companies worldwide
- Build testing infrastructure that catches issues early and keeps the platform stable as new capabilities are added
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field, or Master's with 2+ years of relevant experience
- 2+ years of hands-on experience writing C++, with a strong command of the language and its performance characteristics
- Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and debugging techniques applied to complex software systems
- Working knowledge of Linux operating systems and development workflows
- Understanding of electronic design at gate level or transistor level, enough to reason about what the software is modeling
- Experience with Python is a plus, particularly for scripting, automation, or tooling
- Background in distributed processing, large-scale commercial software development, or ASIC power delivery network simulation is a plus
Who You Are
You can look at a performance problem and figure out whether it is an algorithm issue, a data structure issue, or an architecture issue, and you know which one to fix first. You write code that other engineers can read, modify, and trust six months later without needing you in the room. You ask questions when requirements are unclear and you push back when a proposed solution does not match the actual problem. You treat deadlines seriously and you know how to break down a medium-sized project into pieces that can be delivered, tested, and integrated incrementally. You are comfortable being the person others come to when they need to understand a specific part of the system or debug something tricky. You care about the end user experience, even when the end user is another engineer trying to close timing on a 5 billion transistor design.
The Team You'll Be Part Of
You will join the RedHawk-SC Research and Development team in Austin, a group focused on building state-of-the-art software for semiconductor power and reliability analysis. The team works on a purpose-built platform that handles distributed big-data analytics for advanced SoC designs, tackling challenges in electromigration, thermal effects, and power noise integrity across emerging architectures like 3D-IC, FinFET, and stacked-die. This is a team that values deep technical work, clear communication, and delivering tools that directly affect whether the most complex chips in the world can actually be manufactured.
Rewards and Benefits
We offer a comprehensive range of health, wellness, and financial benefits to cater to your needs. Our total rewards include both monetary and non-monetary offerings. Your recruiter will provide more details about the salary range and benefits during the hiring process. At Synopsys, we want talented people of every background to feel valued and supported to do their best work. Synopsys considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, military veteran status, or disability.
In addition to the base salary, this role may be eligible for an annual bonus, equity, and other discretionary bonuses. Synopsys offers comprehensive health, wellness, and financial benefits as part of a competitive total rewards package. The actual compensation offered will be based on a number of job-related factors, including location, skills, experience, and education. Your recruiter can provide more details.
See all 112+ STEM OPT R D Engineering Jobs
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization in R D Engineering
Verify your CIP code before applying
Your degree's Classification of Instructional Programs code must appear on USCIS's STEM Designated Degree Program List. Cross-check your transcript against that list so you're not targeting roles with a degree that doesn't qualify for the extension.
Confirm E-Verify status before interviews
Ask your recruiter directly whether the company is enrolled in E-Verify before you get deep into the interview process. R&D labs at smaller defense contractors and university spinouts frequently lack enrollment, which disqualifies them as STEM OPT employers regardless of role fit.
Use Migrate Mate to filter R&D employers
Search R&D Engineering roles on Migrate Mate to see which employers have active E-Verify enrollment and OPT hiring history. That filters out companies that can't support your extension before you spend time on applications.
Frame your I-983 training plan around your research scope
Your I-983 must connect your engineering degree to specific R&D tasks at the employer. Draft a plan that maps your coursework in areas like thermodynamics, signal processing, or materials characterization to the lab work you'll actually perform, not generic job duties.
Target employers with existing research agreements
Companies holding active DOD, DOE, or NSF contracts must comply with federal hiring documentation standards, which often means their HR teams already understand OPT timelines. Government-funded R&D environments tend to have smoother authorization workflows than commercial-only labs.
Time your DSO application to your project start date
Your DSO must recommend the STEM OPT extension in SEVIS at least 90 days before your initial OPT expires. For R&D roles with delayed project onboarding, confirm your actual start date with the employer first so your authorization window aligns with your real first day on the project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do R&D Engineering jobs qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
R&D Engineering roles qualify when your degree appears on USCIS's STEM Designated Degree Program List and the employer is enrolled in E-Verify. Degrees in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, computer science, and related applied fields typically satisfy the requirement. Confirm your specific CIP code with your DSO before accepting an offer to avoid authorization gaps.
What does the I-983 training plan need to cover for an R&D role?
The I-983 must describe how your R&D Engineering work directly applies your STEM degree knowledge. For research roles, this means specifying the technical skills you'll use, the research goals of the position, and how the employer will supervise and evaluate your progress. Generic job descriptions don't satisfy the requirement. Your DSO and employer must both sign the form before your extension is approved.
How do I verify that an R&D Engineering employer is enrolled in E-Verify?
Ask the recruiter or HR contact directly whether the company is an active E-Verify participant. You can also search the E-Verify employer search tool by company name to confirm enrollment status. Some R&D employers, particularly smaller research firms and university-affiliated labs, are not enrolled even when they intend to hire STEM OPT students, so verify before signing any offer.
What happens to my STEM OPT if I'm still in the H-1B cap-gap period working in R&D?
If your employer files an H-1B visa petition on your behalf before your STEM OPT expires and USCIS receives it by April 1, the cap-gap rule automatically extends your OPT work authorization through September 30 of that year. Your R&D Engineering work can continue uninterrupted during that period. USCIS issues an updated EAD reflecting the cap-gap extension, which you'll need to provide your employer.
Where can I find R&D Engineering jobs that support STEM OPT students?
Migrate Mate lists R&D Engineering positions filtered by employers with E-Verify enrollment and OPT hiring experience, so you can focus your search on companies that can actually support your authorization. R&D roles appear across aerospace, semiconductors, biotech, and defense sectors, and filtering by employer eligibility upfront saves you from pursuing opportunities that won't work out.