RISC-V CPU Design Verification Staff Engineer

Job Title

RISC-V CPU Design Verification Staff Engineer

Role Summary

Lead verification of high-performance, low-power RISC-V CPU blocks and related SoC integration. Work on verification planning, testbench and stimulus development, simulation, formal checks, emulation and FPGA platforms to validate microarchitecture and system use cases.

Experience Level

Senior - typically 8+ years of experience in CPU or SoC design verification; exact minimum varies by education (see Education Requirements).

Responsibilities

Accountable for planning and executing verification activities for CPU units and features and for validating system-level use cases.

• Develop and execute verification plans for CPU units, features and system use cases.
• Implement testbench components: checkers, assertions, monitors, and stimulus generators.
• Write assembly and C tests to exercise CPU architecture and microarchitecture.
• Use simulation and formal verification tools to validate functionality and identify corner cases.
• Enable and run verification on emulation and FPGA platforms; collaborate with emulation team for bring-up.
• Work with architects, RTL designers, software and SoC teams to validate system integration and performance.
• Debug and triage failures in simulation, emulation and silicon; provide root-cause analysis and actionable bug reports.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience; nice-to-have items listed separately.

• Must-have: Significant experience verifying CPU microarchitecture and implementing verification plans (typically 8+ years at senior/staff level).
• Must-have: Strong RTL verification skills using Verilog/SystemVerilog and verification methodologies (UVM experience is implied).
• Must-have: Experience writing assembly and C-language tests; proficiency in C/C++ and scripting languages for test development and automation.
• Must-have: Experience with simulation and formal verification techniques, including assertions and formal checks.
• Must-have: Experience with emulation and FPGA platforms for hardware verification and bring-up.
• Must-have: Good understanding of CPU architectures and microarchitectures (RISC-V experience preferred; background with ARM, x86, MIPS, POWER is relevant).
• Nice-to-have: Experience verifying power-management features (clock gating, power gating, UPF, DVFS/DCVS, throttling, reliability).
• Nice-to-have: Knowledge of DFT and structural debug methodologies (JTAG, IEEE1500, MBIST, scan/memory dump) and advanced verification techniques.

Education Requirements

Qualifications cited include: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering or related field (with ~4+ years experience); Master's degree in those fields (with ~3+ years experience); PhD in those fields (with ~2+ years experience). A BE/BTech in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering with 8+ years' experience is also referenced. The posting specifies degree plus experience levels rather than an exclusive degree-only requirement.

About the Company

Company: Qualcomm

Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States

Qualcomm is a global leader in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment, specializing in mobile technologies and innovations. Known for its Adreno GPUs, the company provides solutions enabling advancements in mobile gaming, AI, VR/AR, and autonomous driving. Qualcomm's cutting-edge technology and commitment to high-performance, power-efficient designs drive the evolution of mobile graphics and connectivity worldwide.