System Performance Engineer
NXP SemiconductorsJob Title
System Performance Engineer
Role Summary
Drive end-to-end performance characterization and optimization of Ethernet processing solutions across hardware, firmware, drivers, and software stacks. Work with architects, hardware designers, firmware and driver teams to identify bottlenecks and deliver high-throughput, low-latency Ethernet solutions for data center and edge networking.
Experience Level
Entry-level (2+ years industry or research experience).
Responsibilities
Validate, measure, and improve Ethernet datapath performance across system layers.
- Define and execute performance validation and benchmarking strategies for Ethernet hardware and software subsystems.
- Measure and analyze throughput, packet rate (PPS), latency, jitter, buffer utilization, and CPU/memory efficiency.
- Profile packet processing pipelines and identify root causes of performance bottlenecks in hardware, drivers, and software.
- Develop and implement optimization methodologies for varying traffic patterns and workloads.
- Evaluate performance of Ethernet MAC, PHY, switch, NIC, DMA, and hardware acceleration engines.
- Analyze bus utilization, memory bandwidth, cache behavior, and DMA interactions.
- Perform performance characterization on pre-silicon and post-silicon platforms and communicate findings to cross-functional teams.
- Collaborate with architects and development teams to prioritize and verify performance fixes.
Requirements
Must-have technical skills and experience required to perform the role.
- Practical experience with Ethernet networking and packet-processing concepts.
- Experience designing and running performance benchmarks and interpreting results (throughput, PPS, latency, jitter, resource utilization).
- Ability to analyze hardware/software interactions and perform root-cause analysis of performance issues.
- Familiarity with NIC, MAC, PHY, switch, DMA, memory bandwidth, and cache-performance considerations.
- Experience with pre-silicon and post-silicon performance characterization and validation.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills to work across hardware, firmware, driver, and software teams.
- Nice-to-have: exposure to firmware/driver development, hardware design, or performance tooling.
Education Requirements
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electronics, or a closely related technical field, or equivalent practical experience; minimum ~2 years of industry or research experience.
About the Company
Company: NXP Semiconductors
Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands
NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.
