About Etched
Etched is building hardware for frontier intelligence. We co-design chips, racks, software, and manufacturing to deliver best-in-class throughput and latency across both prefill and decode workloads. Our first products are heavily focused on inference. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, Etched is redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history.
Job Summary
Etched is hiring a Quality Engineer based in Taipei to ensure robust quality systems across our critical component suppliers, domestic contract manufacturing and integration partners (L10 server, L11 rack). You will own quality assurance for our advanced AI hardware builds—driving inspection and test strategies, resolving systemic issues, and ensuring that every system leaving the factory meets Etched’s standards for performance and reliability.
This role will collaborate closely with Manufacturing Operations, Supply Chain, and Test Engineering, serving as the bridge between Etched HQ and factory teams. It is ideal for someone who enjoys being hands-on in the factory, while also establishing the scalable quality processes needed to support high-volume production.
Key Responsibilities
Lead quality assurance for overseas and asia based component suppliers, contract manufacturers and integrators (semiconductor, PCBA, L10 servers, L11 racks).
Establish and maintain incoming, in-process, and outgoing inspection processes to ensure compliance with Etched standards.
Partner with Test Engineering to define system-level test coverage, burn-in protocols, and reliability validation.
Drive failure analysis, root-cause investigations, and corrective/preventive actions (8D, CAPA).
Track, analyze, and report on quality metrics (yield, defect density, escapes, DPPM) to both engineering and operations stakeholders.
Participate in ECO reviews, configuration changes, and NPI build reviews to enforce quality gates.
Conduct supplier audits and ensure adherence to industry standards (ISO/AS, IPC).
Collaborate with Manufacturing Operations to scale line capability, training, and documentation.
Champion continuous improvement projects across yield, throughput, and defect reduction.
You may be a good fit if you have:
8+ years of experience in quality engineering, supplier quality, or manufacturing quality supporting ASIC/chip, semiconductor, PCB/A, server, or other high-performance hardware products.
Hands-on experience supporting quality across L6 components, L10 server assembly, and L11 rack integration in partnership with Tier 1 contract manufacturers and/or ODMs.
Strong working knowledge of PCB/A manufacturing processes, including SMT, SPI, AOI, and X-ray inspection, with the ability to drive process improvements alongside manufacturing partners.
Demonstrated experience establishing and managing IQC, IPQC, and OQC quality systems in high-volume manufacturing environments.
Deep knowledge of structured quality methodologies including 8D, CAPA, FMEA, SPC, Cpk, control plans, and statistical process control.
Experience tracking and improving manufacturing quality metrics such as yield, DPPM, defect density, and production escapes.
Familiarity with server assembly, burn-in, and system-level test workflows.
Excellent cross-functional communication skills with the ability to drive alignment across engineering, operations, suppliers, and contract manufacturers.
Comfortable working on-site at supplier and CM factories, resolving production issues in real time.
Strong candidates may also have:
Background in AI ASIC or high-performance compute hardware.
Familiarity with the SMT and DIP process.
Exposure to thermal/power stress testing and system reliability engineering.
Prior experience ramping high-complexity systems from NPI into MP.
Engineering background in electrical, mechanical, or manufacturing domains.
Benefits
Competitive compensation packages, including generous equity packages
Comprehensive insurance coverage and other top-of-market benefit
US onboarding experience in our Silicon Valley headquarters
How we’re different
Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We are the first inference-focused frontier AI system, betting early on transformer and transformer-like architectures and on increasing model sizes. Our addressable market is the entirety of inference, unlike many of our competitors.
We are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and greatly value engineering skills. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both as needed.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of experience in quality engineering or manufacturing quality roles
- Proven track record working with server component suppliers or contract manufacturers
- Strong knowledge of quality tools and methodologies
- Excellent cross-functional communication skills
- Background in electrical, mechanical, or manufacturing domains
Etched Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Etched and has not been reviewed or approved by Etched.
-
Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity growth is described as strong and significant equity is part of the package. High total compensation for technical roles reinforces the equity-led upside.
-
Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage include generous premium support, indicating robust core healthcare. This reduces employee cost exposure for essential coverage.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Daily lunch and dinner, a housing subsidy for those living near the office, relocation support, and wellness perks are highlighted. These offerings lower day-to-day living costs and support practical wellbeing.
Etched Insights
What We Do
By burning the transformer architecture into our chips, we’re creating the world’s most powerful servers for transformer inference.
