Lead Silicon Validation Engineer

Job Title

Lead Silicon Validation Engineer

Role Summary

The Lead Silicon Validation Engineer owns validation planning and execution for MCU/MPU subsystems on silicon platforms. Works across design, verification, and firmware teams to reproduce and debug hardware–software issues and deliver validated silicon to product teams.

Leads test development, automation, and lab bring‑up activities for distributed engineering teams.

Experience Level

Senior — requires 7+ years of experience in semiconductor validation, product engineering, or silicon debug.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include planning validation strategy, executing post‑ and pre‑silicon validation, developing automated test suites, and leading debug efforts.

• Define validation plans and coverage metrics for CPU, memory, peripherals, and interconnects.
• Design test cases, identify corner cases, and validate system‑level use cases and stress scenarios.
• Execute post‑silicon validation on silicon platforms, evaluation boards, and emulators; support pre‑silicon/emulation as needed.
• Develop validation tests and automation using C/C++, Python, and scripting; build regression frameworks and data capture/logging scripts.
• Perform low‑level hardware/firmware debug with JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and trace tools; root‑cause failures across CPU cores, memory, and peripherals.
• Collaborate with RTL design, verification, and firmware teams; review architecture and design specifications and drive bug fixes.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and leadership capabilities:

• 7+ years in semiconductor validation, silicon debug, or product engineering.
• Hands‑on experience with MCU architectures and embedded systems.
• Lab bring‑up and silicon debug tools experience (JTAG, SWD, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes).
• Test development and automation using C/C++, Python, or scripting languages.
• Proven ability to lead large distributed engineering teams and communicate effectively with stakeholders.
• Experience debugging CPU cores, memory subsystems (DDR, SRAM, Flash), and common peripherals (UART, SPI, I2C, GPIO).

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with emulation/pre‑silicon validation and trace tools (ETM, ITM).
• Background in building automation frameworks and regression flows.

Education Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical, Electronics, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.

About the Company

Company: NXP Semiconductors

Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.