Head of Silicon Operations
About Etched
Etched is building AI chips that are hard-coded for individual model architectures. Our first product (Sohu) only supports transformers, but has an order of magnitude more throughput and lower latency than a B200. With Etched ASICs, you can build products that would be impossible with GPUs, like real-time video generation models and extremely deep & parallel chain-of-thought reasoning agents.
Job Summary
We are looking for a Head of Silicon Operations to drive and coordinate the operational execution of our silicon programs, from wafer start through bring-up, validation, and volume production. In this role, you will own critical relationships across internal teams - spanning silicon design, test, validation, and systems engineering - as well as with external manufacturing partners and suppliers.
You will play a central role in aligning priorities, resolving blockers, and ensuring execution across silicon production milestones. Your ability to manage complex interdependencies, anticipate operational risks, and lead across functions will directly support the successful delivery of our ASIC products at scale.
Key responsibilities
Cross-Functional & Supplier Execution
Serve as the primary operational interface between internal silicon-facing teams and external manufacturing partners.
Align schedules, requirements, and deliverables across engineering, packaging, validation, and manufacturing.
Coordinate execution with foundries (e.g., TSMC), OSATs, and substrate vendors to ensure capacity, quality, and delivery goals are met.
Production Planning & Capacity Management
Develop and maintain end-to-end production schedules and capacity plans across wafer fabrication, substrates, assembly, and test.
Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure test infrastructure, ATE programs, and bench validation readiness.
Drive milestone adherence and schedule alignment across builds from engineering samples to mass production.
Supply Chain Strategy & Risk Management
Manage procurement timelines and logistics for key silicon components including wafers, interposers, and substrates.
Proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, or misalignments across production flows and implement mitigation plans.
Prepare for volume ramp by ensuring material readiness, test resources, and supplier engagement plans are in place.
Yield, Quality, and Production Monitoring
Track work-in-progress (WIP), yield, and quality metrics across all stages of silicon manufacturing.
Drive debug, yield improvement, and recovery plans in collaboration with engineering and supplier teams.
Build operational dashboards to maintain visibility into inventory, throughput, and delivery performance.
Forecasting & Executive Reporting
Own silicon demand forecasting, integrating build plans, yield assumptions, and validation timelines.
Partner with supply chain teams to ensure sufficient capacity allocation at foundries and OSATs.
Report key production and readiness metrics to executive and technical stakeholders to drive decisions.
You May Be a Good Fit If You Have
10+ years of experience in silicon operations, supply chain, or production within semiconductor or hardware systems companies.
Expertise in leading execution across advanced silicon nodes (e.g., 5nm, 3nm) and modern packaging techniques (e.g., CoWoS).
Strong background managing relationships with Tier-1 foundries, OSATs, and material suppliers.
Deep understanding of silicon lifecycle: tape-out, fab, packaging, test, bring-up, validation, and production ramp.
Excellent program management skills; proven ability to lead complex initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
Willingness to travel up to 25% for supplier engagement, build execution, and onsite coordination.
Comfort building operational systems, tools, and processes from the ground up in a fast-moving environment.
Strong communicator who can align engineering, operations, and executive teams.
Bonus if You Have:
Experience with ATE platforms (Teradyne, Advantest) and test program infrastructure.
Familiarity with hyperscale silicon production or AI/ML hardware environments.
PMP certification or formal program management training.
Base Compensation Range
$200,000 - $275,000 per year
Benefits
Full medical, dental, and vision packages, with 100% of premium covered
Housing subsidy of $2,000/month for those living within walking distance of the office
Daily lunch and dinner in our office
Relocation support for those moving to San Jose
How we’re different
Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We think most of the progress in the AI field has come from using more FLOPs to train and run models, and the best way to get more FLOPs is to build model-specific hardware. Larger and larger training runs encourage companies to consolidate around fewer model architectures, which creates a market for single-model ASICs.
We are a fully in-person team in San Jose, 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.
