RTL Design Engineer

Job Title

RTL Design Engineer

Role Summary

Work on RTL design and verification for Etched's AI ASICs, focusing on correct and efficient implementation of blocks used by transformer-focused model architectures. You will collaborate with microarchitecture and verification teams to deliver silicon that meets timing, area, and functional targets.

This is a fully in-person engineering role based in Cupertino, CA, reporting to the hardware design organization and contributing to both design and verification efforts.

Experience Level

Mid-level — the posting requests at least 5 years of RTL development experience; expect a role for engineers with several years of hands-on RTL and verification background.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include implementing and verifying RTL blocks, defining verification strategies, and integrating with the microarchitecture team.

• Design, implement, and verify RTL blocks (including floating-point/math operators) to meet functional, timing, and area targets.
• Develop and execute verification plans and write testbenches for block- and system-level validation.
• Collaborate with microarchitecture and synthesis teams to iterate on designs for timing and area closure.
• Use synthesis and standard RTL toolflows to prepare designs for implementation.
• Debug silicon and simulation failures; triage issues and propose corrective actions.
• Learn domain-specific model/architecture constraints (e.g., transformer-related requirements) and incorporate them into design and verification work.

Requirements

Key qualifications and technical skills required and preferred.

Must-have

• At least 5 years of professional RTL development experience.
• Experience with high-speed digital logic design.
• Proficiency with standard RTL design and synthesis tools and flows.
• Experience with verification methodologies and writing testbenches.
• Ability to learn quickly about modern ML model architectures and apply that knowledge to hardware design.
• Available to work full-time on-site in Cupertino, CA.

Nice-to-have

• Experience with PCIe, Ethernet, or HBM interfaces.
• Familiarity with transformer models or other ML architectures.
• Understanding of numerical representations and floating-point functions.
• Programming or scripting experience (Python or similar) for automation and verification tasks.

Education Requirements

Not specified.

About the Company

Company: Etched

Headquarters: San Jose, CA, United States

Etched develops purpose-built AI inference ASICs and systems optimized for transformer models, aiming to deliver significantly higher performance, lower cost, and lower latency than GPUs. The company focuses on enabling applications like real-time video generation and advanced reasoning agents, and is backed by leading investors and engineers.