Director, Design Verification

Job Title

Director, Design Verification

Role Summary

Lead and grow a pre‑silicon verification organization responsible for custom IP and subsystem verification for Microsoft Cloud hardware (AISoC). The role combines people management, technical leadership, verification strategy, and hands‑on testbench development to deliver high‑quality silicon at scale.

Experience Level

Senior — director level. The role expects substantial prior verification and management experience (typical candidates have 8+ years technical engineering experience; preferred 9–12+ years and 3+ years people management).

Responsibilities

Accountabilities for this role include:

• Build, hire, mentor, and grow a verification team; provide career development and technical guidance.
• Define verification strategy and test plans for IP and subsystem level projects in collaboration with architects and design engineers.
• Develop and maintain constrained-random tests, scoreboards, checkers, assertions, and functional coverage to achieve coverage closure.
• Implement UVM components and promote reuse across verification teams.
• Triage and debug testbench, simulation, and emulation failures; debug RTL interactions as needed.
• Create and maintain verification infrastructure, scripts, and makefiles; apply Agile practices including code reviews and sprint planning.
• Provide technical leadership across cross-functional and cross‑time‑zone teams.

Requirements

Must-have skills and conditions:

• Proven experience leading pre‑silicon verification teams and delivering IP/SS/SOC testbenches.
• Strong proficiency with Universal Verification Methodology (UVM), constrained-random stimulus, assertions, scoreboards, and functional coverage.
• Experience debugging RTL, simulation, and emulation environments.
• Hands-on coding/scripting skills (e.g., Python, Perl) and experience writing verification infrastructure and makefiles.
• Demonstrated people management and mentoring experience for engineering teams.
• Familiarity with verification across multiple product cycles and operating in Agile development workflows.
• Ability to meet Microsoft security screening and export‑control requirements (citizenship or residency verification may be required).

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with DDR/HBM, PCIe, network connectivity, AI/ML SoCs, and formal property verification.
• Experience managing distributed, cross‑functional teams and large verification programs.

Education Requirements

One of the following is expected: Doctorate (PhD) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field with 3+ years technical experience; Master's degree in those fields with 6+ years technical experience; Bachelor's degree in those fields with 8+ years technical experience; or equivalent practical experience.

About the Company

Company: Microsoft

Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States

Microsoft is a global technology company that develops and sells software, services, devices, and solutions. Known for its Windows operating system, Office suite, and Azure cloud platform, Microsoft aims to empower individuals and organizations around the world to achieve more. The company fosters a culture of innovation and inclusion, focusing on delivering trusted experiences to customers and partners globally.