Research Development Engineer Jobs in Palo Alto, CA

A Research Development Engineer in the engineering industry primarily focuses on designing, implementing, and improving various technologies, products, or processes. They are responsible for conducting rigorous research and development (R&D) experiments, drafting detailed reports on the findings, and developing prototypes for new product versions. Utilizing their deep understanding of engineering principles, they collaborate with cross-functional teams to create innovative solutions and enhance existing systems, ensuring they adhere to the industry's quality and safety standards.

Essential skills for a Research Development Engineer include strong analytical thinking, problem-solving, project management, and technical skills. Proficiency in specialized software such as AutoCAD, MATLAB, or SolidWorks is often required. Having a deep understanding of mathematical concepts and the ability to interpret technical diagrams is also crucial. Engineers should have a bachelor's or master's degree in an engineering discipline, with Professional Engineer (PE) certification being a significant advantage. Prior to becoming a Research Development Engineer, one may hold roles such as Junior Engineer, Design Engineer, or Project Engineer.

1-15 of 38 Jobs

Senior Grid Innovation Engineer

  • PG&E Corporation
  • Oakland, CA (23 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 1 day ago
  • Oakland, CA (23 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 1 day ago

Experience with electrical engineering design or civil engineering design is a plus. This position is Hybrid, primarily working from your remote office within PG&Es service territory....

Hybrid

Senior Hardware Test Development Engineer

  • Waymo
  • Mountain View, CA (5 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 5 days ago
  • Mountain View, CA (5 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 5 days ago

design/analysis Travel Requirements: Ability to travel domestically and internationally for 10% of time The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations is listed below...

In Person

Expert, Grid Innovation Engineer - Reliability, Strategy, and Partnerships

  • PG&E Corporation
  • Oakland, CA (23 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago
  • Oakland, CA (23 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago

Requisition ID # 172357 Job Category: Engineering / Science Job Level: Individual Contributor Business Unit: Strategy & Growth Work Type: Hybrid Job Location: Oakland Department Overview The...

Hybrid

Senior, Grid Innovation Engineer - Resiliency, Strategy, and Partnerships

  • PG&E Corporation
  • Oakland, CA (23 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago
  • Oakland, CA (23 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago

Requisition ID # 172356 Job Category: Engineering / Science Job Level: Individual Contributor Business Unit: Strategy & Growth Work Type: Hybrid Job Location: Oakland Department Overview The...

Hybrid

Sr. MEMS Development Engineer

  • SiTime Corp
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago

Location - Michigan & Santa Clara About SiTime S iTime is the Precision Timing company. Timing is the heartbeat of all electronics, ensuring performance, resilience and scalability. For decades,...

In Person

Principal MEMS Development Engineer

  • SiTime Corp
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 8 days ago

Location: Michigan & Santa Clara About SiTime SiTime Corporation is the precision timing company. Our semiconductor MEMS programmable solutions offer a rich feature set that enables customers to...

In Person

Senior Packaging Development Engineer

  • Nokia Corporation
  • Sunnyvale, CA (8 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 12 days ago
  • Sunnyvale, CA (8 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 12 days ago

Manufacturing Engineer Mexico Posted on 05/19/2026 The Applied R D Engineer conducts target-oriented research to directly apply findings to the specification, design, further development, and incremental...

Hybrid Full Time

Senior Research Engineer 3D Graphics Compression

  • Sony
  • San Jose, CA (15 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 13 days ago
  • San Jose, CA (15 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 13 days ago

Sony Corporation of America, located in New York, NY, is the U.S. headquarters of Sony Group Corporation, based in Tokyo, Japan. Sony's principal U.S. businesses include Sony Electronics Inc.,...

In Person

Senior Human Factors Research Engineer

  • Intuitive
  • Sunnyvale, CA (8 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 13 days ago
  • Sunnyvale, CA (8 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 13 days ago

Required Education and Training Minimum MS in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology, Biomechanics with emphasis on Human-Computer Interaction, Robotics, or a related field....

In Person

Senior Research Engineer, Controls

  • PlusAI
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 13 days ago
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 13 days ago

Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering or related field 2+ years of MLE experience or industry experience designing and developing for robotics applications Strong foundation in motion control...

In Person

ATE Test Development Engineer

  • NVIDIA
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 14 days ago
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 14 days ago

Ways to stand out from the crowd: Analog circuit design, PLLs System level testing/validation Knowledge of active thermal management Product engineering experience, such as yield analysis, vmin/fmax...

In Person

Research Engineer, Voice

  • Inflection AI
  • Palo Alto, CA
  • 22 days ago
  • Palo Alto, CA
  • 22 days ago

About the Role We're looking for a Member of Technical Staff (MTS), Research Engineer focused on voice and audio to help advance the spoken intelligence behind Pi. In this role, you'll work at the...

In Person

Research Engineer

  • Romoya
  • Palo Alto, CA
  • 23 days ago
  • Palo Alto, CA
  • 23 days ago

Company Description Romoya Inc. is an early-stage robotics startup focused on building next-generation Embodied AI systems and intelligent robotic platforms for real-world applications. Founded by...

In Person

Security Research Engineer

  • Cisco Systems, Inc.
  • San Jose, CA (15 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 25 days ago
  • San Jose, CA (15 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 25 days ago

The application window is expected to close on: 06/05/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received. This is a fully...

Remote

Senior Research Engineer, Robotics Systems

  • NVIDIA
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 27 days ago
  • Santa Clara, CA (12 miles from Palo Alto, CA)
  • 27 days ago

NVIDIA is searching for a senior or principal engineer who specializes in robotics systems in the Generalist Embodied Agent Research (GEAR) group. Our team is leading Project GR00T, NVIDIAs...

In Person

Demographic Data for Palo Alto, CA

Moving to Palo Alto, CA? Find some basic demographic data about Palo Alto, CA below.


Local
National
98,808
3,890
Medium/Lg

Research Development Engineer Online Courses and Training Opportunities

iHireEngineering curates thousands of courses in order to recommend the best ones to help further your career. If you register for a course using the links on our site, we may receive a small commission.
Safeguarding in Collaborative Research and International Development: Contexts, Challenges, and Opportunities
Safeguarding training must be very context-specific in order to be effective, and this remains a major challenge in international development and research. On this three-week course from the...
Education Research That Matters: Ways of Researching
Connecting insights from existing research to practice and building on this to design realistic and high-quality research projects can be challenging. Understanding research methods is crucial to...
Deconstructing Research Articles: How to Read and Write a Research Paper
Rigorous research is useless unless it can be clearly communicated and successfully interpreted. That makes academic literacy a vital skill for researchers working in any discipline. On this...

Title Synonyms

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Salary for Research Development Engineer Jobs in Palo Alto, CA

Estimated salary range based on data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and iHireEngineering research efforts.

Licensing / Certification

Required or preferred licenses and certifications for Research Development Engineer positions.



Highest Education Level

Research Development Engineers in Palo Alto, CA offer the following education background
Bachelor's Degree
49.5%
Master's Degree
33.4%
Doctorate Degree
11.7%
Associate's Degree
2.5%
Vocational Degree or Certification
1.4%
High School or GED
1.1%
Some College
0.3%
Some High School
0.1%

Average Work Experience
Here's a breakdown of the number of years' experience offered by Research Development Engineers in Palo Alto, CA
4-6 years
26.4%
2-4 years
25.9%
6-8 years
17.6%
Less than 1 year
10.4%
1-2 years
7.0%
8-10 years
5.9%
None
4.2%
10+ years
2.6%



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