Processor Architect

About the role

You will join a processor development team as an architect working across the full breadth of a CPU program, from core pipeline definition to the interfaces where the processor meets the rest of the SoC. Processor architects keep the whole program coherent: they make sure the core, the memory subsystem, the debug architecture, and the system interfaces fit together into a product that meets its goals. In this role you will own significant pieces of that definition, model them rigorously, and drive them through specification and implementation support.

What you will achieve

• Define the microarchitecture of assigned processor blocks or subsystems, balancing performance, power, and area against program targets using quantitative modeling and analysis.
• Develop and maintain performance models covering your areas of ownership, calibrated against prior silicon and trusted by the program for projection decisions.
• Specify processor-to-SoC interfaces including coherency protocols, debug and trace interfaces, power management signaling, and boot and reset sequences, ensuring clean integration with the wider system.
• Drive technical reviews for your areas that surface risks early, align stakeholders across design and verification, and produce clear decisions with documented rationale.
• Support implementation teams through RTL design, verification, and physical design, resolving specification questions and microarchitecture issues without losing the program's performance commitments.
• Contribute to competitive and workload analysis that keeps the program's targets grounded in market reality and customer needs.

What you will bring

Must-haves

• 2 to 5 years of experience in CPU architecture, processor design, or SoC architecture with exposure to complete product cycles.
• Solid understanding of modern processor pipelines, memory hierarchies, coherency protocols, and system-level integration.
• Experience with architectural simulation and performance modeling for design exploration and projection.
• Familiarity with at least one major ISA and its implications for hardware and software.
• Ability to write precise architecture specifications and interface definitions consumed by multiple teams.
• Systems thinking: you naturally consider how a block-level decision ripples through power, verification complexity, software, and schedule.
• Strong collaboration skills for working across design, verification, physical design, and software organizations.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with debug, trace, or performance monitoring unit architecture.
• Knowledge of SoC power management architectures and firmware interfaces.
• Exposure to safety or security requirements in processor design.