Principal Emulation Engineer

Job Title

Principal Emulation Engineer

Role Summary

Work on large-scale hardware emulation and multi-FPGA prototyping platforms to enable pre-silicon validation, firmware and software bring-up, and system-level performance characterization for memory-centric SoCs.

Join the AGI Computing Lab to collaborate with hardware and software teams on scalable platforms for AI/ML workloads, focusing on capacity, throughput, and debug infrastructure.

Experience Level

Senior. Posting requests 20+ years (Bachelor’s), 18+ years (Master’s), or 15+ years (PhD) of industry experience; additionally expects 5+ years of hands-on experience in FPGA prototyping and large-scale hardware emulation.

Responsibilities

Deliver and maintain emulation and prototyping targets, enabling early software bring-up and system validation.

• Build, bring up, and maintain large-scale emulation and multi-FPGA prototypes for SoCs.
• Partition and map multi-million-gate designs to emulation/prototype platforms, optimizing capacity, run-time, and debug visibility.
• Develop transactors, speed bridges, and co-emulation (SCE-MI) environments to connect DUT to host software and interfaces.
• Model memory subsystems, clock/reset schemes, and high-speed I/O for accurate, high-throughput emulation.
• Enable early firmware, driver, and system software bring-up with robust debug infrastructure and waveform/coverage analysis.
• Run AI/ML workloads and performance benchmarks pre-silicon to validate functionality and system-level performance.
• Debug complex hardware/software interactions and drive root-cause analysis with cross-functional teams.
• Automate emulation/prototyping flows (compile, partitioning, build) using scripting and agentic AI tools to improve turnaround.
• Communicate status and trade-offs to project stakeholders to meet schedule and budget targets.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and practical experience for successful execution of the role.

• Strong background in pre-silicon verification, validation, and SoC bring-up.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in both FPGA prototyping and large-scale hardware emulation of complex ASIC/SoC designs.
• Hands-on experience with emulation platforms (Cadence Palladium, Synopsys ZeBu, or Siemens Veloce).
• Experience with FPGA prototyping platforms (Synopsys HAPS, Cadence Protium), including multi-FPGA partitioning and timing closure.
• Experience with transactors, co-emulation (SCE-MI), speed bridges, and standard interface protocols (PCIe, DDR/HBM, AXI/CHI, Ethernet).
• Proficiency in Verilog/SystemVerilog and in design bring-up, clocking, reset, and memory modeling for emulation/prototyping.
• Proficiency in scripting (Tcl, Python, or Perl) to automate flows and tools.
• Experience running AI/ML workloads or system-level software pre-silicon; strong analytical and debugging skills.
• Effective communication, teamwork, and ability to work independently across global teams.
• Nice-to-have: familiarity with agentic AI tools/frameworks for automation and flow improvement.

Education Requirements

Posting specifies degree + industry experience combinations: Bachelor's degree with 20+ years, Master's degree with 18+ years, or PhD with 15+ years of industry experience. No specific field-of-study or certifications were stated.

About the Company

Company: Samsung Semiconductor

Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States

Samsung Semiconductor is a global leader in semiconductor technology, providing innovative solutions for diverse applications including smartphones, electric vehicles, and data centers. As part of Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology, the company focuses on cutting-edge research in areas such as CPU microarchitecture, AI, and HPC, fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment for its employees to thrive and innovate.