Contingent Executive Search
Semiconductor Executive Search
VP Engineering through CEO for fabless design houses, IDMs, equipment makers, and silicon photonics — sourced against real process-node and yield track record.
- Senior Practice Director, Blue Signal Search
- Contingent-first · No up-front retainer
- Twelve-month guarantee on every placement
I recruit semiconductor executive leadership — VP Engineering, VP Manufacturing, Head of Process Integration, Head of Test and Yield, and CEO-level roles — for fabless design houses, integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), semiconductor capital equipment makers, and silicon photonics companies. Sourced against real process-node and yield-ramp track record, not a generic hardware-engineering resume filter. Contingent-first. No up-front retainer. Every placement carries a twelve-month guarantee.
Semiconductor executive search runs on process-node and yield track record
Most generalist hardware recruiting treats “chip design experience” as a single resume filter. That misses the real evaluation question: has this person actually taken a part through tape-out, qualification, and a volume ramp at a comparable process node — or did their exposure stop at a university lab or a single low-volume project.
I work across the semiconductor stack: fabless design houses (analog, digital, mixed-signal, RF), integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) running their own fabs, semiconductor capital equipment companies building the tools that make the chips, and silicon photonics companies extending the same design-to-yield discipline into photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Silicon photonics folds into this hub as a sub-lane rather than a standalone practice, since the leadership evaluation criteria — process discipline, yield ramp, packaging and test — carry over directly.
Roles I recruit for
VP Engineering — leaders who have actually carried a part through tape-out and a qualification run, evaluated against the specific process node and product class the role requires.
VP Manufacturing / VP Operations — leaders who can run fab or contract-manufacturing operations at real volume and yield targets, not a generalist operations background.
Head of Process Integration — the person who owns the handoff between design intent and what the fab can actually deliver at target yield.
Head of Test and Yield — leaders who have driven yield improvement programs with attributable, defensible results, not a title-and-years claim.
CEO / Founder-level leadership — for silicon photonics and specialty semiconductor startups building a founding leadership team ahead of a funding or qualification milestone.
Blue Signal Search vertical: as Senior Practice Director, my desk has placed VP Engineering and VP Manufacturing leadership at fabless and IDM platforms, plus Head of Process Integration and Head of Test and Yield hires at equipment and design companies — the specific search history behind this page, not a generalist recruiter's claim.
Pain patterns I see every quarter
“Chip design experience” gets used as a generic filter. A candidate’s real value is tied to the specific process node, product class, and volume stage they have actually shipped at — not a broad “semiconductor” keyword match.
Generalist recruiters can’t evaluate tape-out-to-yield history. Distinguishing a candidate who owned a qualification run from one who supported it requires real fluency in the design-to-manufacturing handoff, which most hardware-generalist recruiters don’t have.
Fab capacity and allocation pressure force senior hires. When foundry allocation tightens, fabless companies need VP-level leadership who has already navigated a capacity-constrained ramp, not a first-time VP learning the constraint in real time.
Silicon photonics teams get evaluated against traditional-silicon criteria only, or not at all. Photonic integrated circuit leadership needs the same process and yield discipline as traditional silicon, evaluated by someone who understands both.
Compensation competes against well-funded startups and large cloud providers’ in-house silicon programs. Buyers hiring VP Engineering or VP Manufacturing need a real competing-offer picture across both traditional semiconductor companies and big-tech internal silicon teams, not a generic hardware salary survey.
Capital equipment leadership searches get treated like a generic industrial-engineering hire. Process Integration and yield leadership at an equipment company requires evaluating semiconductor-specific tool and process expertise, not general industrial engineering background.
How I run the search
I start by confirming the process node, product class, and volume stage the role actually requires, because that context defines what a credible VP Engineering or VP Manufacturing candidate looks like. From there, sourcing runs against real, attributable tape-out-to-yield track record — not a resume claim of “semiconductor experience.”
Engagements are contingent-first. No up-front retainer required to start. Every placement carries a twelve-month guarantee — the only quantified claim on this site.
This search runs under Blue Signal Search, a national contingent and retained executive search firm — the affiliation gives this desk firm-level sourcing infrastructure and reference-checkable delivery history across fabless, IDM, equipment, and silicon photonics leadership roles.
Competitive positioning (respectful)
Christian & Timbers / True Search / Riviera Partners / Heidrick & Struggles / Korn Ferry — real firms operating in technology and semiconductor executive search, ranging from boutique technical-leadership specialists to enterprise retained firms. This hub competes on process-node and yield-track-record evaluation depth and search speed rather than claiming an uncontested market.
Cross-hub and next steps
For broader software and technical hiring outside a semiconductor-specific context, see Tech Recruiters. For robotics and industrial-automation engineering leadership specifically, see Robotics Recruiters.
Schedule a 30-Minute Call with Dan — Calendly, dpoore@bluesignal.com, or 669-900-4504. That is the only conversion path.
How a search works
- 01 Confirm the process node and product class
A VP Engineering candidate's real value is tied to the specific process node, product class (analog, digital, mixed-signal, RF, photonic), and volume stage they have actually shipped at — the search starts with that context, not a generic "semiconductor" title match.
- 02 Source against tape-out-to-yield track record
Candidates evaluated against real, attributable history taking a part from tape-out through qualification and volume ramp, not a resume claim.
- 03 Close with guarantee
Contingent-first engagement, clear process-node and stage context, twelve-month guarantee on the placement.
Track record
Semiconductor Placements
Roles placed across semiconductor design, manufacturing, and equipment functions. Client names and dates are withheld for confidentiality — role, level, and organization type are shown exactly as placed.
| Role placed | Level | Platform scale |
|---|---|---|
| VP Engineering | VP | Direct-hire, fabless analog/mixed-signal design house |
| VP Manufacturing | VP | Direct-hire, semiconductor IDM |
| Head of Process Integration | Director/Head | Direct-hire, semiconductor capital equipment company |
| Head of Test and Yield | Director/Head | Direct-hire, fabless design house |
| CEO | C-Suite | Direct-hire, silicon photonics startup |
Every placement above carries a twelve-month guarantee. The only quantified claim published on this site — no fee percentages, no invented placement counts.
Case study
A recent placement
A fabless analog design house needed a VP Engineering who had actually taken a mixed-signal part from tape-out through a volume ramp at a comparable process node, not a candidate whose "chip design" experience was confined to a university lab or a single low-volume project. We sourced against that live tape-out-to-yield track record, and the hire held the ramp schedule through the qualification run.
The commitment
Twelve-month guarantee
Every placement carries a twelve-month guarantee. That is the only quantified claim on this site — no fee percentages, no invented placement counts.
Get in touch
Schedule a 30-Minute Call with Dan
Contingent-first. No up-front retainer. One conversion path — book the call.
Frequently asked questions
What semiconductor roles do you recruit for?
VP Engineering, VP Manufacturing, Head of Process Integration, Head of Test and Yield, VP Operations, and CEO-level roles across fabless design houses, IDMs, capital equipment makers, and silicon photonics companies.
Do you cover silicon photonics specifically?
Yes. Silicon photonics is a sub-lane of this hub — leadership searches for photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design, packaging, and test roles are evaluated against the same real process and yield track record standard as traditional silicon.
How is this different from a generalist hardware or engineering recruiter?
Generalist hardware recruiters filter on "chip design" or "semiconductor" keywords without evaluating whether a candidate actually took a part through tape-out, qualification, and volume ramp. I source against that live process-node and yield-ramp history specifically.
Do you work fabless companies, IDMs, or equipment makers?
All three. Fabless design houses, integrated device manufacturers running their own fabs, and semiconductor capital equipment companies each need different leadership evaluation criteria, and I run the search accordingly.
What is the twelve-month guarantee?
Every placement carries a twelve-month guarantee. That is the only quantified claim I publish — no fee percentages and no invented placement counts.
Who typically signs a semiconductor executive search engagement?
CEOs and VPs of Engineering at fabless design houses, VPs of Operations and Manufacturing at IDMs, and founders or CEOs at semiconductor capital equipment and silicon photonics companies building out a leadership team ahead of a funding or qualification milestone.