How to Apply to Rapidus Corporation

8 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 12 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Rapidus is a Japanese national-strategic semiconductor foundry founded in 2022 to manufacture 2nm chips by 2027, backed by 920+ billion yen in METI subsidies and eight major Japanese corporations.
  • The IIM-1 fab in Chitose, Hokkaido began pilot production in April 2025 and is ramping toward commercial 2nm volume in 2027 using IBM-licensed gate-all-around nanosheet technology.
  • Rapidus hires aggressively across process integration, lithography (especially EUV and high-NA EUV), etch, deposition, metrology, packaging, EDA, and IT, with roughly 250 to 500 employees and growing fast.
  • Most technical hires spend 6 to 24 months at IBM's Albany Nanotech Complex in upstate New York before returning to operate the Hokkaido fab, making the Albany rotation a defining career experience.
  • The application process runs through rapidus.inc/careers, accepts both Japanese rirekisho and Western CVs, and typically takes 4 to 6 weeks from application to offer for technical specialists.
  • Rapidus prizes long-horizon mission alignment over short-term compensation maximization; interviewers screen for engineers who view this as a 10 to 20 year nation-building project.
  • Bilingual capability matters: English for the Albany rotation, Japanese for fab-floor operations in Chitose; the company offers language training for non-native speakers in either direction.
  • Compensation is competitive by Japanese standards with strong relocation, housing, and language support, but base pay tends to trail American foundry offers; the upside is mission, learning, and historical impact.
  • Resumes should lead with quantified leading-edge node experience, EUV exposure, green-field fab ramp work, and any prior collaboration with IBM, imec, or the major equipment vendors.

About Rapidus Corporation

Rapidus Corporation is a Japanese semiconductor foundry startup founded in August 2022 with a singular national mission: restore Japan's leading-edge logic chip manufacturing capability and produce 2-nanometer (2nm) class semiconductors at scale by 2027. Headquartered in Chitose, Hokkaido on the same island that hosts Toyota's auto plants and a growing high-tech corridor, Rapidus was capitalized by eight founding companies including Toyota, Sony, NTT, NEC, SoftBank, Denso, Kioxia, and MUFG Bank, with substantial follow-on financial backing from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Total committed Japanese government support has exceeded 920 billion yen across multiple subsidy waves, making Rapidus one of the most heavily backed industrial policy projects in modern Japanese history. The company is pursuing a beyond-2nm gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet process node through a deep technology partnership with IBM Research, who licensed Rapidus its 2nm technology developed at the Albany Nanotech Complex in New York. Engineers from Rapidus rotate through Albany for hands-on co-development, while the company also partners with imec in Belgium for EUV lithography research and process integration. The flagship IIM-1 (Innovative Integration for Manufacturing) fab in Chitose began equipment installation in late 2024, started pilot production in April 2025, and is targeting commercial 2nm volume production in 2027. Rapidus has roughly 250 to 500 employees as of 2026, with rapid hiring underway across process integration, lithography, metrology, packaging, design enablement, and back-end-of-line operations. The leadership team is led by President and CEO Atsuyoshi Koike, a veteran of Trecenti Technologies and Western Digital Japan, with Chairman Tetsuro Higashi, the former Tokyo Electron chairman. Rapidus positions itself differently from TSMC and Samsung by focusing on rapid-cycle, low-volume, design-to-mask single-wafer processing aimed at AI accelerators, autonomous-driving SoCs, 6G base-station silicon, and quantum-classical hybrid chips. For engineers and scientists, Rapidus represents a once-in-a-generation chance to stand up a leading-edge fab from green field, learn directly from IBM and imec, and rebuild a domestic ecosystem that Japan ceded to Taiwan and Korea over the last twenty years.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Search the official Rapidus careers portal at rapidus

    Search the official Rapidus careers portal at rapidus.inc/careers for open requisitions, which are posted in Japanese and English and grouped by function (process integration, lithography, etch, deposition, metrology, packaging, EDA, IT, business, and HR).

  2. 2
    Submit a Japanese-format rirekisho (resume) and shokumu keirekisho (work history

    Submit a Japanese-format rirekisho (resume) and shokumu keirekisho (work history with detailed project descriptions) through the application form. International applicants may submit a Western-style CV but should add a one-page Japanese summary if possible.

  3. 3
    Initial screening is handled by Rapidus HR and the hiring manager, typically wit

    Initial screening is handled by Rapidus HR and the hiring manager, typically within 2 to 3 weeks; expect a recruiter call to verify visa status, language ability, willingness to relocate to Hokkaido, and availability for the Albany rotation program.

  4. 4
    Technical interviews are conducted in two to three rounds: the first focuses on

    Technical interviews are conducted in two to three rounds: the first focuses on domain depth (process physics, device engineering, or software architecture), the second on integration thinking and yield problem-solving, and the third on cultural fit and long-term commitment to the 2027 ramp.

  5. 5
    Senior and lead-level candidates should expect a panel interview that may includ

    Senior and lead-level candidates should expect a panel interview that may include executives such as the CTO, the head of the Albany program, or external IBM partners, often conducted over video conference if you are outside Japan.

  6. 6
    An offer package is typically issued within 4 to 6 weeks of application; relocat

    An offer package is typically issued within 4 to 6 weeks of application; relocation support to Chitose, temporary housing, and language training for non-Japanese hires are commonly negotiated and frequently included for technical specialists.

  7. 7
    Final hires complete onboarding in Tokyo or Chitose, then most engineers spend 6

    Final hires complete onboarding in Tokyo or Chitose, then most engineers spend 6 to 24 months rotating through IBM's Albany Nanotech Complex in New York before returning to operate the IIM-1 fab in Hokkaido.

Resume Tips for Rapidus Corporation

recommended

Lead with leading-edge node experience: name-drop specific process generations y

Lead with leading-edge node experience: name-drop specific process generations you have worked on (7nm, 5nm, 3nm, GAA nanosheet, FinFET) and the unit processes you owned, because Rapidus is rebuilding talent from a near-zero domestic base.

recommended

Quantify yield, defect-density, and cycle-time contributions; Rapidus is explici

Quantify yield, defect-density, and cycle-time contributions; Rapidus is explicitly chasing single-wafer, short-cycle manufacturing, so D0 reduction, OEE improvement, and lot-cycle compression numbers carry disproportionate weight.

recommended

Highlight any prior employment or collaboration with TSMC, Samsung, Intel, Globa

Highlight any prior employment or collaboration with TSMC, Samsung, Intel, GlobalFoundries, IBM Research, imec, ASML, Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA, or Screen Holdings, since these are the talent pools Rapidus actively recruits from.

recommended

Call out EUV lithography exposure explicitly, including high-NA EUV if you have

Call out EUV lithography exposure explicitly, including high-NA EUV if you have it, along with any pellicle, mask, OPC, or computational lithography work, because EUV is the rate-limiting capability for 2nm production.

recommended

If you are a non-Japanese applicant, list your JLPT level honestly (N1 through N

If you are a non-Japanese applicant, list your JLPT level honestly (N1 through N5 or none) and signal openness to learning Japanese; conversely, Japanese candidates should list TOEIC or TOEFL scores because Albany rotation requires functional English.

recommended

Include any green-field fab build, qualification, or ramp experience, including

Include any green-field fab build, qualification, or ramp experience, including tool install, hookup, first-wafer, and yield-learning phases, since IIM-1 is a brand-new fab being commissioned in real time.

recommended

For software and EDA candidates, specify experience with PDK development, design

For software and EDA candidates, specify experience with PDK development, design-rule checking, OPC, DTCO, and the major EDA toolchains (Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens EDA), and call out any work bridging design and process teams.

recommended

Frame your career narrative around mission and longevity: Rapidus interviewers w

Frame your career narrative around mission and longevity: Rapidus interviewers want people who view this as a 10 to 20 year nation-building project, not a typical 2 to 3 year resume stop.

ATS System: Direct application via official Rapidus careers portal

Rapidus does not publicly use a major Western ATS such as Greenhouse, Lever, or Workday for its primary careers site. Applications are submitted directly through forms on rapidus.inc/careers, which routes resumes and shokumu keirekisho documents to internal HR. Senior and executive roles are sometimes filled through Japanese executive search firms such as JAC Recruitment, Robert Walters Japan, and en world Japan, and a small number of international roles are occasionally posted on LinkedIn.

  • Apply directly through rapidus.inc/careers rather than relying on third-party job boards, since the company prioritizes direct applications and aggregator listings often lag the official portal.
  • Submit both a Japanese rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho if you can; Western CVs are accepted but a Japanese summary signals seriousness about relocating and integrating.
  • Name your files clearly in both English and Japanese (e.g., LastName_FirstName_Resume_2026.pdf and LastName_FirstName_Rirekisho_2026.pdf) and keep PDFs under 5 MB.
  • Include a short cover note explaining why you specifically want to join Rapidus rather than TSMC or Samsung; the mission framing matters more than at most foundries.
  • If you do not hear back within 3 weeks, a polite follow-up email referencing the requisition number is acceptable and often appreciated.

Complete Direct application via official Rapidus careers portal Resume Guide →

Interview Culture

Rapidus interviews blend traditional Japanese corporate formality with the urgency of a venture-backed startup chasing an aggressive 2027 production deadline, and candidates should prepare for both registers in the same conversation. Expect interviews to begin with the standard Japanese ritual of self-introduction (jiko shoukai), exchange of business cards or virtual equivalents, and a respectful overview of your career path before the technical conversation begins. Interviewers, often senior process engineers or directors who themselves trained at NEC, Hitachi, Toshiba, or Renesas before joining Rapidus, will ask deep, narrow technical questions and expect precise, evidence-based answers; vague claims are politely but firmly probed until they yield specifics. Unlike many Silicon Valley interviews, you should not rush to demonstrate brilliance through speed. Take a beat, think carefully, and answer with structured reasoning that shows you understand the physics, the integration trade-offs, and the manufacturing realities of what you are claiming. The cultural test runs in parallel to the technical one. Rapidus is staking Japan's national chip strategy on a small team that must absorb IBM's process know-how in Albany, transfer it to Hokkaido, and execute a high-NA EUV ramp under intense METI scrutiny, so interviewers are screening for humility, teachability, long-term commitment, and willingness to subordinate ego to the collective goal. The company explicitly looks for people comfortable with Japanese-style consensus decision-making (nemawashi and ringi) while also pushing back politely when technical evidence demands a different course. Expect questions about how you have handled disagreement with senior engineers, how you would mentor a younger Japanese colleague returning from Albany, and how you would approach a yield excursion at 2 a.m. Dress is business formal in Japan and business professional in Albany; punctuality is non-negotiable; and follow-up thank-you notes, written in Japanese where possible, are appreciated. Salary negotiation tends to be conservative compared with American semiconductor offers, but total compensation is supplemented by a strong benefits package, relocation support, housing assistance in Chitose, language training, and the relatively rare prospect of equity-like bonus participation tied to the 2027 production milestones.

What Rapidus Corporation Looks For

  • Deep, demonstrable expertise in at least one unit process or integration discipline at 7nm or below, with a clear paper trail of yield, defect, or cycle-time improvements you personally drove.
  • Mission alignment: a credible, articulated reason for wanting to help rebuild Japan's leading-edge semiconductor industry rather than chase the highest immediate compensation.
  • Cross-cultural agility, especially the ability to operate inside both the Japanese keiretsu-style organizational rhythm in Chitose and the American R&D culture at IBM's Albany Nanotech Complex.
  • EUV and high-NA EUV literacy, including process integration trade-offs, mask and pellicle handling, stochastic defectivity, and computational lithography pipelines.
  • Comfort with green-field fab work: tool install, qualification, first-wafer, and ramp; willingness to live at the fab during critical milestones.
  • Long-term horizon thinking; Rapidus explicitly avoids hiring engineers who view it as a short-term resume entry, and they screen for evidence of multi-year commitment in past roles.
  • Bilingual or willingness-to-become-bilingual capability; functional English is required for the Albany rotation, and functional Japanese is required for fab-floor operations in Chitose.
  • Calm, evidence-based problem-solving under pressure, given that any 2nm yield excursion in 2027 will land on the front page of Nikkei the next morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Rapidus headquartered and where is the fab located?
Rapidus is headquartered in Tokyo with its IIM-1 manufacturing fab located in Chitose, Hokkaido. Most production-facing technical roles are based in Chitose, while business, finance, and some R&D roles operate from the Tokyo office. Many process engineers also rotate through IBM's Albany Nanotech Complex in upstate New York for 6 to 24 months.
What process node is Rapidus targeting and on what timeline?
Rapidus is targeting a 2-nanometer (2nm) gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet process licensed from IBM Research. Pilot production began at IIM-1 in April 2025 and the company is publicly committed to commercial volume production in 2027, with longer-term ambitions of moving to 1.4nm and beyond.
Do I need to speak Japanese to work at Rapidus?
Functional Japanese is strongly preferred for fab-floor operations in Chitose, and JLPT N3 or higher is a meaningful advantage for non-Japanese applicants. However, Rapidus actively hires non-Japanese specialists, particularly for the Albany rotation program, and offers language training. Functional English is required for any role that includes the IBM Albany rotation.
What is the Albany rotation and is it mandatory?
Rapidus engineers spend 6 to 24 months at IBM Research's Albany Nanotech Complex in New York co-developing the 2nm process and absorbing IBM's process know-how before returning to Chitose. For most process integration, lithography, and unit-process engineering roles, the Albany rotation is effectively mandatory. Business, IT, and pure manufacturing operations roles typically do not include the rotation.
How does Rapidus compensation compare with TSMC, Samsung, or Intel?
Base salaries at Rapidus tend to trail leading American foundry offers but are competitive within Japan, with strong relocation support, subsidized housing in Chitose, language training, and bonus participation tied to the 2027 production milestones. The compensation philosophy is explicitly mission-and-learning weighted rather than maximum-cash weighted.
What types of roles is Rapidus hiring for in 2026?
As of 2026 Rapidus is hiring across process integration, lithography (EUV and high-NA EUV), etch, deposition, metrology, defectivity, yield engineering, packaging and advanced 3D integration, design enablement and PDK, EDA, IT and OT infrastructure for the fab, supply chain, finance, and HR. Demand is particularly heavy for engineers with prior 7nm, 5nm, 3nm, or GAA experience.
Is Rapidus hiring international candidates and will they sponsor visas?
Yes. Rapidus actively recruits internationally because Japan's domestic talent pool for leading-edge logic was largely lost over the last two decades. The company sponsors Japanese work visas (typically Highly Skilled Professional or Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services) and supports US visa logistics for the Albany rotation.
What is the interview process like for engineering candidates?
Expect an initial recruiter screen, two to three technical rounds covering domain depth and integration thinking, and a final panel that often includes a senior executive or IBM Albany counterpart. Interviews blend Japanese formality with startup-style urgency, run mostly in Japanese for domestic hires and mostly in English for international hires, and typically conclude with an offer in 4 to 6 weeks.
Who founded and funds Rapidus?
Rapidus was founded in August 2022 and capitalized by eight Japanese companies: Toyota, Sony, NTT, NEC, SoftBank, Denso, Kioxia, and MUFG Bank. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has committed more than 920 billion yen in subsidies across multiple funding waves, making Rapidus one of the most heavily backed industrial-policy projects in modern Japanese history.
What are Rapidus's biggest risks and why should I still consider working there?
The risks are real: 2nm at any foundry is technically punishing, the 2027 commercial-volume target is aggressive, and Rapidus must build a customer base in parallel with building a fab. The counter-case is that Rapidus offers a once-in-a-generation chance to stand up a leading-edge fab from green field, train directly with IBM and imec, and help rebuild a strategic industry, with substantial government support absorbing much of the financial risk for the company itself.

Open Positions

Rapidus Corporation currently has 12 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 12 open positions at Rapidus Corporation

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