SoC Debug Subsystem Validation Engineer

Job Title

SoC Debug Subsystem Validation Engineer

Role Summary

Validate and enable SoC debug infrastructure across pre-silicon and post-silicon platforms, support silicon bring-up, and build automation and analysis tools that accelerate root-cause diagnosis of complex system issues. Work closely with architecture, design, firmware, software, and platform teams.

Experience Level

Mid-level (typical 3–7 years of relevant experience; exact years not specified).

Responsibilities

Design and execute validation tasks for SoC debug and trace features, automate workflows, and perform detailed failure analysis.

• Develop validation strategies, test plans, and test cases for the SoC debug subsystem.
• Validate debug access and discovery mechanisms (ROM Table, JTAG/DAP/TAP, MEM-AP) and CoreSight components.
• Perform functional validation for trace and observability features (ETM, ETE, STM, ITM, TRBE, ELA).
• Validate trace capture, scan dumps, memory dumps, and related failure-analysis workflows for post-silicon validation.
• Support silicon bring-up by enabling debug infrastructure and validating firmware-assisted debug flows.
• Develop end-to-end debug scenarios covering boot, firmware execution, memory access, interrupts, exceptions, and system hangs.
• Perform root-cause analysis by correlating traces, firmware logs, register and scan dumps, and memory dumps.
• Develop Python-based automation, reusable tools, and regression frameworks for trace collection, dump analysis, and reporting.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve complex silicon issues and improve debug workflows.
• Apply modern engineering workflows and AI-assisted tools to reduce manual effort and accelerate analysis.

Requirements

Skills and hands-on experience required for the role. Education requirements are listed below.

Must-have

• Practical experience in post-silicon validation, silicon bring-up, firmware validation, or SoC debug.
• Strong understanding of Arm CoreSight architecture and debug infrastructure.
• Hands-on experience with ROM Table discovery, JTAG/TAP/DAP, MEM-AP and debug access mechanisms.
• Experience with trace technologies and dump analysis (ETM, ETE, STM, ITM, TRBE, ELA, scan/memory dumps).
• Strong Python programming skills for automation, debug utilities, and data-processing tools.
• Working knowledge of C/C++ and Shell or Perl for firmware and tooling tasks.
• Good understanding of SoC boot flows, firmware initialization, clock/reset/power domains, and AMBA (AXI/CHI).
• Experience with debug and validation platforms: Arm Development Studio, DSTREAM, Lauterbach, FPGA prototypes, emulation or simulation environments.
• Familiarity with Linux-based validation, bare-metal firmware, and CI/CD workflows.

Nice-to-have

• Experience developing trace decoding, dump analysis, and advanced log-analysis tools.
• Experience building Python automation frameworks for regression and validation at scale.
• Prior use of AI-assisted debugging or automation tools to accelerate root-cause analysis.
• Experience with firmware-assisted debug flows and platform bring-up coordination.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree or equivalent practical experience in Electronics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Embedded Systems, VLSI, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

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.