Senior Principal Architect, Hardware Safety

Job Title

Senior Principal Architect, Hardware Safety

Role Summary

Lead the technical definition and implementation of functional safety for next-generation automotive compute subsystems and complex SoCs targeting L4 autonomous driving and humanoid robotics. Serve as the technical authority for Functional Safety, defining safety architectures and ensuring compliance with ISO 26262 and IEC 61508 across architecture, hardware, software, verification, security, and product teams.

Experience Level

Senior — 16–20 years of experience in semiconductor or embedded systems development with significant functional safety experience.

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership across the safety lifecycle and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver safety-enabled compute platforms.

• Define functional safety architecture for Automotive and Robotics SoCs and compute subsystems.
• Develop and maintain Functional Safety Concepts, Technical Safety Concepts, safety requirements, and safety cases per ISO 26262 and IEC 61508.
• Perform and drive safety analyses (FMEA, FMEDA, FTA, DFA) and specify safety mechanisms to meet target safety integrity levels.
• Integrate functional safety into CPU, GPU, NPU, interconnect, memory, and system IP architectures with system architects and IP teams.
• Ensure end-to-end traceability from requirements to implementation and verification; partner with verification, software, security, and quality teams.
• Support customer engagements, safety assessments, independent audits, and certification activities as the technical safety expert.
• Contribute to evolving safety methodologies and architectures for AI-enabled autonomous vehicles and humanoid robotics.

Requirements

Core technical and leadership requirements for the role.

Must-have

• Extensive practical experience applying ISO 26262 and IEC 61508 to complex semiconductor products.
• Proven track record defining safety architectures, safety mechanisms, and safety cases for automotive SoCs or safety-critical semiconductor platforms.
• Strong understanding of modern SoC architecture, including CPU, GPU, NPU, system IP, hardware/software partitioning, and verification methodologies.
• Experience performing and reviewing FMEA, FMEDA, FTA, DFA, and safety requirement decomposition.
• Demonstrated technical leadership, strong communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience engaging with automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, silicon partners, and independent functional safety assessors (desirable but common in role).

Nice-to-have

• Familiarity with SOTIF (ISO 21448), ISO/SAE 21434, and AI safety concepts.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline.

About the Company

Company: Arm

Headquarters: Cambridge, United Kingdom

ARM is a global leader in semiconductor and software design, driving innovation in computing technology. The company specializes in designing processors and systems that provide the essential building blocks for electronic devices. ARM's architecture is widely used in smartphones, servers, and IoT devices, and its collaborative culture fosters bold thinking, diversity, and high-impact benefits for its talented workforce.