Principal Engineer, Validation

Role Summary

The Principal Engineer, Validation is responsible for architecting, leading, and improving post-silicon system and functional validation for complex SoC/MCU platforms. The role is critical to ensuring silicon quality by validating functional correctness, feature compliance, performance, power, and robustness across various use cases.

Experience Level

Senior; requires 14+ years of experience in post-silicon system validation or related fields.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include:

• Defining automotive system-level post-silicon validation strategy aligned to ASIL-D quality.
• Driving validation continuity from pre-silicon to silicon phases.
• Architecting and owning validation plans and strategies.
• Leading validation of key SoC components under various conditions.
• Establishing requirements for validation infrastructure and automation frameworks.
• Providing technical guidance across multiple teams.
• Mentoring engineers and setting best practices for validation processes.

Requirements

Must-have qualifications:

• B.E./B. Tech or M.E./M. Tech in Electronics, Electrical, or Computer Engineering.
• 14+ years of experience in system validation.
• Strong expertise in SoC/MCU architecture and low-power design techniques.
• Proven experience with high-speed interfaces and standard protocols.
• Advanced proficiency in C/C++ and embedded firmware development.
• Strong debug skills using various tools.
• Experience with AI frameworks for SoC validation efficiency.

Nice-to-have qualifications:

• Experience in automotive-grade SoCs and familiarity with functional safety.
• Exposure to emulation and hybrid validation models.
• Established track record of quality improvement across silicon generations.

Education Requirements

B.E./B. Tech or M.E./M. Tech in Electronics, Electrical, or Computer Engineering.

About the Company

Company: Renesas

Headquarters: Hitachinaka, Japan

Renesas is a global leader in embedded semiconductor solutions, providing high-quality products across automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT sectors. With over 22,000 employees in more than 30 countries, the company focuses on scalable solutions that enhance user experience and drive innovation while committed to sustainability and energy efficiency.