Senior Panel Design Engineer

Summary

At Apple, the display is where hundreds of millions of people meet our products every day, and every pixel of it is engineered in-house. The TFT Panel Design team owns the advanced panel architectures and device technologies that make Apple displays the best in the world, working at the intersection of semiconductor device physics, analog circuit design, and high-volume manufacturing. We define what a display can be years before it ships, then see it through to millions of units built to a standard nobody else attempts.

As a Senior Panel Design Engineer, you will be the focal point for architecting and developing complete pixel and panel designs from TFT device modeling and characterization through on-glass integrated circuit design and full-panel functional simulation. You will partner with process, optics, electrical, and mechanical teams across Apple and with display manufacturing partners worldwide, turning ambitious display concepts into designs that are both beautiful and manufacturable. If you want your work to be seen and touched by people everywhere, this is where it happens.

Description

The Senior Panel Design Engineer designs, develops, and launches next-generation Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display technologies for Apple products. This role owns the end-to-end panel design flow: TFT device modeling and simulation, pixel and panel architecture, on-glass integrated circuit design, layout and parasitic extraction, and whole-panel functional validation. You will drive designs from early architectural scoping through high-volume production ramp, collaborating closely with cross-functional Apple teams and external display manufacturing partners.

Responsibilities

Define and scope TFT panel architectures, translating product-level display requirements into pixel, panel, and driving-scheme specifications.
Design and model TFT devices, including IV/CV characterization, model extraction, and correlation of simulation against measured data.
Develop pixel and panel designs through schematic, layout, and parasitic parameter extraction, and validate performance with full-panel functional simulation.
Design and validate panel-integrated gate driver and peripheral circuits, from simulation through bring-up on real panels.
Lead failure mode analysis and root cause investigation on prototype and production panels, and drive design solutions to closure.
Explore and qualify new TFT device and pixel circuit technologies, assessing feasibility and manufacturability for future Apple products.
Collaborate with cross-functional partners including TFT Process, Display Optics, Touch EE, Display EE, and Mechanical Engineering, and with external display manufacturing vendors.
Travel internationally to supplier and manufacturing sites to support design implementation, build events, and production ramp.
Note: This role requires regular international business travel to support project implementation at manufacturing partner sites, and occasional work outside standard hours to align with overseas teams and build schedules.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
5+ years of experience in display-related hardware development.
3+ years of experience with panel design for high-volume display product manufacturing.
Experience with TFT/OLED device and pixel circuit modeling methodology, including device IV/CV characterization and analog circuit simulation.
Experience designing panel-integrated gate driver circuits.
Experience communicating technical content clearly in written and verbal English.

Preferred Qualifications

Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering, with emphasis on semiconductor devices, display technology, or analog circuit design.
Experience taking a display panel design from architectural definition through production ramp on a consumer product program.
Experience with panel layout and parasitic extraction flows, and with full-panel functional simulation of large-array designs.
Experience with LTPS, LTPO, or oxide TFT process technologies and an understanding of how process variation drives design margin.
Experience debugging panel-level failures on production lines and driving cross-disciplinary root cause investigations to resolution.
You collaborate and debate effectively across engineering disciplines, building consensus with process, optics, and system teams without relying on formal authority.
You thrive in ambiguity, defining the technical path forward when requirements and technology are still evolving, and you take ownership of results end to end.
You demonstrate a bias toward getting to the truth — grounding decisions in measured data and simulation, and communicating findings with clarity to both technical and executive audiences.