Staff GPU Design Verification Engineer – Formal Verification

Samsung, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, is founded on a simple philosophy – the endless pursuit of excellence will create a better world for all. At Samsung Austin Research and Development Center (SARC) and Advanced Computing Lab (ACL), we are building a center of excellence for Intellectual Property (IP) applied to high-performance computing devices (mobile, automotive, and other custom market segments) consumed by millions of people around the world.

Responsibilities

• Execute formal verification in collaboration with architecture and RTL teams to ensure functional correctness, power gating mechanisms, and alignment with architectural intent.
• Contribute to block-level formal verification strategy and execution by defining verification goals, properties, coverage objectives, and sign-off criteria for critical GPU features, including clock and power gating.
• Architect and implement formal verification environments by collaborating with RTL and architecture teams to develop assertions, properties, and formal models using industry-standard formal tools and methodologies to validate complex graphics and compute behavior.
• Ensure functional correctness by applying formal techniques to exhaustively verify corner cases, state-space behaviors, and safety properties that go beyond what simulation-based verification can achieve.
• Contribute to debug analysis and root-cause resolution by analyzing formal failures, tracing counterexamples, and working closely with design and architecture teams to ensure verification aligns with architectural intent and improves design robustness.
• Apply formal verification techniques including proof depth, bug hunting, complexity handling, bounded proof, failure triaging, cover scenarios, and convergence analysis to achieve formal verification closure on assigned GPU design features.
• Exercise independent judgment in execution, methods, and evaluation criteria — breaking down complex verification problems into actionable tasks and delivering results with minimal guidance.
• Contribute to project execution using Confluence, JIRA, and relevant planning techniques, and maintain documentation including formal verification test plans, convergence reports, and complexity analysis.
• Participate in knowledge-sharing and foster a culture of ownership and engineering rigor within the team.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Engineering, or 4+ years of experience with a Master’s Degree, or 2+ years of experience with a Ph.D.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in GPU, CPU, or advanced semiconductor design verification with a focus in formal verification.
• Solid understanding of computer architecture and graphics pipelines.
• Strong programming and scripting skills in Python, Perl, C/C++, or equivalent.
• Proficiency in SystemVerilog and SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA).
• Working knowledge of formal verification methodologies, including property verification, data path checking, model checking, register verification, connectivity checking, and coverage analysis.
• Hands-on experience with industry-standard formal verification EDA tools and methodologies.
• Strong debugging, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to propose and execute solutions independently.
• Effective communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work across RTL, architecture, and design teams in a fast-paced global environment.

Skills

• Knowledge of memory subsystems or coherent interconnects (nice to have).
• Experience with constrained random verification using UVM (IEEE 1800 Universal Verification Methodology) (nice to have).
• Exposure to developing or improving formal verification flows, methodologies, or tooling (nice to have).
• Exposure to low-power design techniques and verification of power intent (e.g., UPF concepts) (nice to have).
• Interest in advancing the state of formal verification practices (nice to have).

About the Team

The GPU Design Verification team at SARC/ACL owns verification coverage for Samsung’s current and next-generation mobile GPUs. Our work spans across three areas: Graphic Core, Subsystem Verification, and Formal Verification. As a globally distributed team, we work closely with architecture, design, software, emulation, and system-level partners to ensure GPU designs function effectively as a complete system. Our Xclipse GPU is the first mobile GPU with ray tracing technology that enables console-level graphics for Samsung Galaxy smartphones. You will join a diverse, collaborative organization to work on concurrent annual development lifecycles and see your work delivered in real consumer technologies. Here you’ll help build what’s next, broaden your expertise, and solve impactful challenges in a supportive environment that values collaboration, continuous learning, and growth.

Pay

The base pay range for this role is between $151,000 and $226,600. Your actual base pay will depend on variables that may include your education, skills, qualifications, experience, and work location.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, life insurance
• 401(k)
• Onsite lunch
• Employee purchase program
• Tuition assistance (after 6 months)
• Paid time off
• Student loan program
• Wellness incentives
• MBO bonus compensation, based on company, division, and individual performance
• Eligibility to participate in long-term incentive plan and relocation (for this role)

This is an exempt position, which is not eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).