Principal Engineer, Hardware Emulation

Job Title

Principal Engineer, Hardware Emulation

Role Summary

Lead development and maintenance of hardware emulation platforms and emulation-based validation flows for mixed-signal SoCs. Work with emulation vendors and cross-functional teams (simulation, firmware, software, hardware design) to bring up emulation infrastructure, develop monitors/checkers, and support pre-silicon validation and debug.

This role focuses on improving emulation methodology, throughput, portability, and debuggability to accelerate chip bring-up and verification.

Experience Level

Senior level. The posting specifies very senior experience expectations (MS with ~18 years preferred, BS with ~20 years), and expects long-standing, hands-on emulation and verification expertise.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include platform bring-up, debugging, and cross-team support for emulation validation of SoCs.

• Bring up and maintain the emulation platform for mixed-signal SoCs and own the emulation infrastructure.
• Develop and maintain chip-level emulation models, monitors, and checkers to validate subsystems.
• Debug emulation performance, area, and runtime issues; analyze emulation results to support root-cause analysis.
• Work with emulation vendors to resolve hardware and tool issues as needed.
• Improve emulation methodology for robustness, throughput, portability, and debuggability.
• Collaborate with simulation, firmware, software test, and hardware design teams to support bring-up, reproduce silicon failures on the emulator, and triage/fix design issues.
• Support software test bring-up and debug on the hardware emulator and integrate emulation into verification workflows.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and attributes.

• Hands-on emulation experience with industry platforms such as Palladium or Zebu.
• Experience with emulation compile flows, wave dump & triggers, waveform debugging, and running tests on emulators.
• Scripting experience in Perl or Python for automation and flows.
• Familiarity with Makefiles or other build systems.
• Experience with waveform debug tools (for example Verdi, SimVision).
• Strong understanding of Verilog and SystemVerilog RTL design and exposure to synthesizable RTL and SVAs.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally and communicate effectively with engineering teams and vendors.
• Collaborative mindset, adaptability, and a focus on learning and continuous improvement.

Education Requirements

BS in Computer, Electrical, or Electronic Engineering or Computer Science with ~20 years relevant experience, or MS in those fields with ~18 years relevant experience (MS preferred as listed). The posting specifies degree-level expectations paired with extensive years of relevant emulation/verification experience.

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.