Hardware Validation Engineer
EtchedJob Title
Hardware Validation Engineer
Role Summary
Validate system hardware and PCBs to ensure robust power delivery, signal integrity, and reliable operation across interfaces such as PCIe and I2C. Work in the lab to collect and analyze measurements, support post-silicon characterization, and collaborate with design, firmware, and systems teams to resolve issues.
Experience Level
Mid-level. Specific years of experience were not specified.
Responsibilities
Primary duties include lab validation, data-driven characterization, and cross-functional debugging of system hardware.
- Perform functional verification of system hardware and PCBs, validating power and signal integrity margins.
- Collect, analyze, and document lab data for power delivery, signal integrity, noise, and transient behavior.
- Support post-silicon validation: PVT, power, and thermal characterization.
- Evaluate PCIe performance (EOM, BER) and characterize I2C bus systems.
- Design and run DOE experiments to debug hardware issues and optimize performance.
- Validate power sequencing and microcontroller-based subsystems.
- Perform root-cause analysis of hardware failures and drive issues to resolution with cross-functional teams.
- Track and report PCB issues and validation results to stakeholders.
Requirements
Required technical skills and experience; education is listed separately below.
- Proven experience with hardware validation, lab testing, and PCB-level debugging.
- Strong understanding of power integrity and signal integrity measurement techniques.
- Familiarity with PCIe, I2C, and other common hardware interfaces and protocols.
- Hands-on experience with lab equipment: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, power supplies.
- Experience performing root-cause analysis and driving cross-functional investigations.
- Practical knowledge of power sequencing and microcontroller-based systems.
- Experience with scripting for data analysis (e.g., Python or Matlab).
Nice-to-have:
- Experience with post-silicon validation workflows, DOE design, thermal characterization, and BER/EOM measurements.
- Prior experience in high-performance or inference-focused hardware platforms.
Education Requirements
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field. (The posting did not mention an explicit equivalency statement.)
About the Company
Company: Etched
Headquarters: San Jose, CA, United States
Etched develops purpose-built AI inference ASICs and systems optimized for transformer models, aiming to deliver significantly higher performance, lower cost, and lower latency than GPUs. The company focuses on enabling applications like real-time video generation and advanced reasoning agents, and is backed by leading investors and engineers.
