Staff Quality Assurance Engineer

The Senior Product Quality Engineer (Sr. PQE) is responsible for leading Ongoing Reliability Testing (ORT) programs and ensuring long-term quality and reliability performance of our products across design, manufacturing, and field deployment. This role drives best-in-class reliability monitoring, stress testing, and continuous improvement to meet international standards and customer requirements.

The Sr. PQE works cross-functionally with Design, Test, Manufacturing, Reliability Labs, FA Labs, and Customer/Supplier Quality teams to prevent defects, proactively identify reliability risks, and drive robust product quality throughout the product lifecycle

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and optimize Ongoing Reliability Testing (ORT) strategies and programs for production products, including sample selection, test setup, acceleration models, and data analysis.
• Define, implement, and continuously improve ORT plans and suitable stress tests tailored to specific product applications and use conditions.
• Attend key milestone meetings (from design kick-off through production transfer) with a strong emphasis on long-term reliability risks and ORT requirements.
• Perform and review product qualifications (new products, second source, material/design/process changes) while ensuring seamless integration with ORT programs.
• Ensure product compliance with internal specifications, customer requirements, and applicable standards (e.g., ISO 9001, IATF 16949, IEC, JEDEC, AEC, etc.).
• Communicate ORT plans, results, and reliability data with internal stakeholders and customers (Silicon, Package, and Board Level).
• Participate in and lead risk assessments (e.g., DFMEA, PFMEA) with a focus on long-term reliability; ensure mitigation actions are implemented, validated, and monitored via ORT.
• Review qualification and ORT test results, assess risks, and provide quality approval for production release or change management.
• Generate and publish high-quality qualification and ongoing reliability reports with clear risk assessments and recommendations.
• Lead failure analysis for ORT and qualification failures using advanced electrical, mechanical, and materials analysis techniques; drive root cause identification and corrective actions.
• Define and implement reliability enhancement measures jointly with cross-functional teams to achieve high product robustness.
• Proactively highlight potential criticalities, reliability risks, and early warning signals from ORT data.
• Ensure lessons learned from reliability issues and ORT findings are systematically fed back into design, process, and manufacturing improvements.
• Support or lead continuous improvement initiatives related to reliability monitoring and ORT efficiency.

Key Performance Measures

• Effectiveness and efficiency of Ongoing Reliability Testing programs (early detection of issues, zero escapes, timely feedback loops).
• Overall Product Reliability and Quality performance alignment to Division KPIs.
• Qualification and ORT achievement in terms of timing, quality, and costs.
• Successful risk mitigation and continuous improvement impact (reduction in field returns, DPPM, etc.).

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Strong understanding of semiconductors and the semiconductor industry. 
• Deep knowledge of semiconductor manufacturing processes (wafer fab, assembly, test) and their impact on long-term reliability. 
• Expert-level knowledge of industry quality and reliability standards, qualification methodologies, and acceleration models (JEDEC, AEC, IPC, etc.). 
• Extensive experience with Ongoing Reliability Testing (ORT), reliability monitoring, and statistical data analysis. 
• Proven experience with failure analysis workflows and quality tools (FMEA, 8D, root cause analysis, Weibull analysis, etc.). 
• Strong analytical, structured problem-solving, and data-driven decision-making skills. 
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including customers. 
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and projects independently. 
• Customer-focused, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. 
• Comfortable working in a global, multicultural environment with the ability to influence without direct authority. 
• Written and verbal English is mandatory. 
• Flexible to undertake international travel at short notice. 
• Self-motivated, proactive, and business-oriented mindset. 
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and leadership skills. 
• 5+ years of experience 

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’ As the industry’s leading expert in embedded processing with unmatched quality and system-level know-how, we have evolved to provide scalable and comprehensive semiconductor solutions for automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT industries based on the broadest product portfolio, including High Performance Computing, Embedded Processing, Analog & Connectivity, and Power.
 
With a diverse team of over 21,000 professionals in more than 30 countries, we continue to expand our boundaries to offer enhanced user experiences through digitalization and usher into a new era of innovation. We design and develop sustainable, power-efficient solutions today that help people and communities thrive tomorrow, ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’     
 
At Renesas, you can: 

• Launch and advance your career in technical and business roles across four Product Groups and various corporate functions. You will have the opportunities to explore our hardware and software capabilities and try new things.  

• Make a real impact by developing innovative products and solutions to meet our global customers' evolving needs and help make people’s lives easier, safe and secure. 

• Maximize your performance and wellbeing in our flexible and inclusive work environment. Our people-first culture and global support system, including the remote work option and Employee Resource Groups, will help you excel from the first day.    

Are you ready to own your success and make your mark?  

Join Renesas. Let’s Shape the Future together.  

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, committed to supporting diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information, please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.