Hardware - Silicon Validation Engineer (NPU SoC)

Job Title

Hardware - Silicon Validation Engineer (NPU SoC)

Role Summary

Lead silicon validation and first-silicon bring-up for NPU SoC designs. Work at the hardware–software boundary to validate functionality, performance, and system stability from pre-silicon (emulator/FPGA) through post-silicon bring-up and production readiness.

Collaborate with RTL/DV, firmware, driver, and board teams to develop test plans, debug system-level issues, and implement workarounds and automation to ensure timely tape-out and productization.

Experience Level

Mid-level. Candidates should have prior SoC/ASIC or system validation experience; senior/lead experience is advantageous.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include:

• Lead NPU 1st-silicon bring-up: boot, initial functional validation of accelerator cores, CPU subsystem, NoC, memory subsystem, and high-speed interfaces; board bring-up and clock/reset configuration.
• Define and execute validation plans and coverage for pre-silicon and post-silicon environments; develop test firmware and scenario-based tests.
• Debug system-level HW/SW issues using JTAG, Trace32, and other tools; identify root causes and implement workarounds; report to stakeholders.
• Validate and optimize performance of NPU data pipelines and memory bandwidth usage.
• Develop test automation, scripts, and CI/CD integration to improve validation efficiency.

Requirements

Must-have qualifications:

• Experience in SoC, ASIC, or complex silicon/system validation and bring-up.
• Strong understanding of ARM architecture, AMBA (AXI/AHB), and general SoC/computer architecture.
• Embedded C/C++ and Rust programming experience for hardware control and bare-metal test firmware.
• Experience with validation methodology: test planning, bug tracking, and coverage management.
• Proven debugging skills using JTAG/Trace32 and HW/SW co-debugging techniques.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills for complex system issues.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with AI accelerators (NPU/TPU), GPU, or complex multicore SoC validation and bring-up.
• Pre-silicon validation experience (Palladium, Zebu, FPGA/emulation).
• Knowledge of high-speed interfaces and memory (Ethernet, CXL, LPDDR, HBM).
• Experience with Linux kernel and device drivers.
• Experience using Rust in system-level software.
• Experience with scripting and automation (Python, Tcl, Bash).

Education Requirements

Not specified.

About the Company

Company: FuriosaAI

Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea

FuriosaAI develops high-performance, energy-efficient AI inference hardware and software. Founded in 2017 by semiconductor and AI engineers, the company builds AI-native compute platforms to reduce AI energy and operational costs and operates globally with offices in Korea, Silicon Valley, and an R&D lab in Lisbon.