Chip & Silicon Engineer
Chip & Silicon Engineers at AI companies work across the chip-design lifecycle for AI accelerators and supporting silicon—from RTL and microarchitecture through physical design, verification, and post-silicon validation. The role spans front-end design (architecting blocks, writing RTL, running simulation), physical design (synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, power-performance-area optimization), and post-silicon work (bring-up, characterization, debug across hardware, firmware, and software layers). Specialization within this slug varies—some engineers focus narrowly on one phase of the pipeline, others coordinate across phases—but the population spans the full chain rather than concentrating on any single stage. These engineers typically sit within silicon, hardware, or platform engineering organizations at chip-focused AI companies, collaborating closely with verification, software, and systems teams to deliver production silicon.
Skills
What companies are looking for in this role.
Designing and executing comprehensive validation test plans across functional, performance, stress, and corner-case scenarios
Performing silicon bring-up, debug, and characterization of advanced semiconductor devices
Developing custom microarchitecture and RTL designs for system-on-chip implementations
Analyzing and debugging complex issues across hardware, firmware, and software integration domains
Automating test execution, orchestration, and data analysis using scripting and programming
Translating hardware specifications and features into structured, parameterized test cases with clear success criteria
Validating and optimizing high-speed interfaces, memory subsystems, and interconnect performance
Performing root-cause analysis and failure diagnosis across multiple system hierarchies
Tuning workload parameters and configuring test scenarios for comprehensive system coverage
Implementing physical design workflows including synthesis, place and route, and timing closure
Defining system-level architecture and technical roadmaps for custom silicon solutions
Validating signal integrity, power delivery, and mechanical reliability in complex systems
Building and maintaining hardware test infrastructure including lab automation and instrumentation
Evaluating and selecting appropriate benchmarking tools and defining workload models
Performing hardware and software co-design to optimize system performance and power consumption
Conducting multi-physics modeling and simulation across thermal, mechanical, and electrical domains
Conducting reliability assessment and electromigration analysis for advanced packaging systems
Supporting manufacturing operations and early production validation efforts
Developing AI-accelerator architectures optimized for inference workloads and energy efficiency
Designing heterogeneous integration architectures for chiplet-based and 3D packaging systems
Communicating technical findings and recommendations to cross-functional stakeholders and customer teams
Leading cross-functional teams and providing technical mentorship on chip and system design
Establishing verification methodologies, standards, and frameworks across engineering organizations
Operating effectively in agile development environments with aggressive schedules and milestones
Technology
The tools and technologies that define this role.
Open Jobs
83 open Chip & Silicon Engineer jobs across 12 companies.
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