Director of Licensing

Job Description

The Role: We are seeking a Director of IP Licensing to serve as a key architect of SiFive’s commercial growth. Reporting to the SVP of Product, you will sit at the intersection of Product, Sales, and Legal to drive high-value IP transactions and define the long-term economic strategy for our CPU portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial Deal Architect: Lead the structuring of complex IP licensing deals. Partner with Sales, Product Management and Legal to develop bespoke commercial terms, incentive structures, and quotations that secure design wins while protecting SiFive’s long-term interests.
• Strategic Business Planning: Own and evolve the multi-year business plan for the IP business. Incorporate market shifts (e.g., the rise of custom compute) and customer feedback to forecast revenue and identify new growth vectors.
• Business Model Innovation: Innovate on pricing models to move beyond "standard" licensing to enable SiFive to address a wide range of customers in the most appropriate way.
• Royalty Strategy & Optimization: Analyze existing royalty streams and historical data to ensure future agreements are optimized to maximize long term revenue.
• Pricing Governance: Own the global "Price Book." Ensure pricing is consistent, competitive, and clearly communicated to field teams to enable rapid, autonomous execution in the region.
• Process Leadership: Streamline the "Lead-to-Fulfillment" workflow. Ensure that commercial approvals, contractual compliance, and order fulfillment processes are frictionless across global teams.

Requirements

• Experience: 10+ years of experience in commercial roles (eg IP licensing, Business Development or Strategic Marketing) in the semiconductor industry.
• Commercial Expertise: Deep understanding of semiconductor IP licensing commercial models and terms, with previous experience of drafting commercial agreements.
• Technical Foundation: Ability to understand and discuss CPU IP and SoC level requirements fluently with sales, customers and other stakeholders.
• Strong Financial Acumen: Experience building complex revenue forecast models.
• Strategic Mindset: Proven ability to see the bigger picture and drive change that impacts the overall success of the business.
• Influence & Collaboration: Proven track record of working across many teams on a global scale to get things done.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (Electrical Engineering, Computer Science), Marketing, or Business.

Nice to Haves

• Direct experience with RISC-V or ARM architectures / CPU licensing specifically.

Pay & Benefits

Consistent with SiFive values and applicable law, we provide the following information to promote pay transparency and equity. We have a market-based pay structure which varies by location. Please note that the base pay range is a guideline, and our compensation range reflects the cost of labor in the U.S. geographic market based on the location of the role. Pay within these ranges varies and depends on job-related knowledge, skills, and relevant work experience. For candidates who receive and offer, the starting salary will vary based on various factors including, but not limited to, such qualifications as, skill level, competencies, and work location.

Additional Information:

• This position requires a successful background and reference checks and satisfactory proof of your right to work in United States of America.
• Any offer of employment for this position is also contingent on the Company verifying that you are a authorized for access to export-controlled technology under applicable export control laws or, if you are not already authorized, our ability to successfully obtain any necessary export license(s) or other approvals.
• SiFive is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
• We do not use E-Verify to pre-screen job candidates and will comply with all E-Verify regulations.
• California residents: please see our job candidate notice for more information on how we handle your personal information and your privacy rights: Privacy Policy Document.