Silicon Validation Engineer

About the role

MatX is seeking silicon micro-architects and design engineers to join our team as we create best-in-class silicon for high-performance and sustainable GenAI. Successful candidates will be responsible for delivering performant and functionally accurate silicon for MatX products across compute, memory management, high-speed connectivity, and other key technologies.

Responsibilities

• Own silicon bring-up and validation from first power-on through feature validation and production readiness.
• Develop and execute validation plans for chip-level and SiP-level functionality, performance, reliability, and system behavior.
• Validate boot, reset, initialization, power management, recovery, memory, interconnect, high-speed interfaces, and package-level functionality.
• Work across Top-level DV, Palladium emulation, lab validation, and package validation to improve coverage and correlation between environments.
• Debug complex failures using logs, registers, traces, waveforms, firmware output, and lab equipment.
• Analyze issues across RTL, firmware, software, board, package, and silicon boundaries.
• Collaborate with architecture, design, DV, emulation, firmware, software, and product engineering teams.
• Define observability and debug requirements and improve validation automation, execution, and failure triage.

Requirements

• Strong hands-on experience in silicon validation, post-silicon bring-up, hardware emulation, Top-level DV, or a related field.
• Experience validating complex SoCs, accelerators, or highly integrated silicon products.
• Strong understanding of digital hardware, SoC architecture, and hardware-firmware interaction.
• Proven ability to debug complex cross-functional failures and drive them to root cause.
• Experience working with real silicon and lab platforms.
• Familiarity with firmware, embedded software, drivers, and low-level hardware access.
• Ability to read and understand C or C++ code for debug purposes.
• Python or similar scripting experience.
• Ability to read specifications, register descriptions, validation plans, and relevant RTL.
• Strong ownership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with both pre-silicon and post-silicon validation.
• Experience with Cadence Palladium.
• Experience with SystemVerilog, UVM, assertions, coverage, or waveform debug.
• Experience bringing up first silicon.
• Experience with HBM, DDR, PCIe, CXL, Ethernet, die-to-die interfaces, or advanced packaging.
• Familiarity with JTAG, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or protocol analyzers.

Pay

The US base salary for this full-time position is determined based on role, experience, location, job-related skills, and relevant education and training. Career length is only a guideline for compensation.

• Early Career: $120,000 - $275,000 + equity
• Mid Career: $175,000 - $450,000 + equity
• Senior Career: $275,000 - $475,000 + equity

Benefits

• Time off: 4 weeks PTO (accrued) + 12 company Holidays + up to 3 weeks remote work
• Health: Company-subsidized Medical (Kaiser or Anthem) for employees & dependents, Guardian Dental and Vision insurances for employee & dependents, and life insurance (employee only), plus HSA and FSA offerings via Lively.
• Financial Wellbeing: Roth IRA/401K (or both) retirement plans with up to 5% company contribution to 401K (even if you don't contribute), 100% company-paid life insurance (up to $300K), and long-term disability insurances.
• Professional Development: $1500 Professional Development Budget (per year)
• Team Meals: Onsite team lunch & dinner Monday - Friday, with your choice of ordering via WeBox, Specialty’s, or via reimbursement.
• Commute: Company Uber account or reimbursement for train rides (100% covered).
• MatX E[x]tras: $50/month to use on the perk you value most
• Cell & Internet Reimbursement: $35/month for cellular and $40/month for wifi
• Mental Wellbeing: 100% paid mental health benefit via SpringHealth and Guardian EAP.
• Support to Parents: Up to 12 weeks paid parental leave regardless of path to parenthood, 10 weeks pregnancy disability leave, flexible return-to-work hours, and Benepass reproductive health & parental benefit.
• AI Resources: Up to $20K/month plus a dedicated internal AI Tooling Team to support your productivity