Chip & Silicon Engineer
Engineers in this role lead the validation and characterization of advanced AI accelerator chips after they return from manufacturing, working across silicon, firmware, and platform layers to prove functional correctness and performance under production conditions. They distinguish themselves by combining hands-on silicon debugging expertise with the ability to coordinate complex cross-domain issues spanning hardware, software, and systems integration—moving beyond traditional post-silicon testing to architect validation strategies for next-generation high-performance SoCs. These roles typically sit within Manufacturing Operations or Architecture and Validation teams at semiconductor-focused AI companies, collaborating closely with logical design, physical design, verification, and software teams to translate silicon specification into reliably deployed products at scale.
Skills
What companies are looking for in this role.
Designing and implementing register transfer level (RTL) logic for semiconductor devices
Developing microarchitecture specifications and implementations for high-performance processors
Optimizing chip designs for power consumption, performance, and area efficiency
Performing functional verification and coverage analysis of digital logic designs
Executing physical design and place-and-route optimization for silicon chips
Architecting system-on-chip (SoC) designs and sub-system integration
Debugging complex failures spanning silicon, firmware, and software layers
Conducting post-silicon validation and bring-up of manufactured silicon devices
Defining and executing silicon verification strategies and test methodologies
Conducting design rule checking, layout versus schematic verification, and electrical rule checking
Performing timing closure and signal integrity analysis on high-speed designs
Developing test infrastructure and automated test frameworks for silicon validation
Planning and executing test coverage strategies to achieve verification sign-off
Analyzing and resolving power delivery and electromagnetic effects in silicon designs
Developing firmware and low-level software for silicon bring-up and validation
Designing advanced semiconductor packaging architectures including 2.5D and 3D integration
Architecting high-bandwidth interconnects and interface solutions for system integration
Developing full-system simulation models for architecture exploration and pre-silicon validation
Optimizing designs for AI workloads and machine learning inference performance
Creating CI/CD workflows and infrastructure for continuous validation and integration
Collaborating across hardware, software, and systems teams to resolve cross-domain technical issues
Leading and mentoring engineering teams through complex silicon development programs
Translating product requirements into technical specifications and design trade-offs
Establishing design methodologies, processes, and best practices for silicon teams
Communicating technical progress and status to program management and stakeholders
Managing external vendor relationships for ASIC and foundry services
Technology
The tools and technologies that define this role.
Open Jobs
50 open Chip & Silicon Engineer jobs across 7 companies.
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