R&D CPU Design Engineer

About the role

You will prototype next-generation CPU concepts at a semiconductor company, building the hardware demonstrations that prove research ideas are genuinely viable. R&D design engineers turn architects' concepts into working RTL and FPGA prototypes years ahead of productization: novel pipeline organizations, experimental memory structures, new accelerator couplings, and the measurement data that decides which ideas deserve expensive product investment. You will work at the frontier of processor design with unusual freedom to explore, balanced by the engineering discipline to prove what works and honestly report what does not.

What you will achieve

• Prototype novel CPU microarchitectures and circuit structures in RTL, demonstrating functional feasibility and characterizing PPA years before product programs would commit resources.
• Build FPGA-based demonstrations of research concepts that execute real workloads and benchmarks, providing the tangible, measurable proof that convinces product teams to adopt new ideas.
• Characterize prototype PPA with rigorous methodology, producing honest assessments of each concept's potential including its implementation risks, verification challenges, and scaling behavior.
• Explore design spaces rapidly through parameterized prototypes, automated sweeps, and creative experimentation, mapping the landscape of possibilities for product architects efficiently.
• File patents on novel structures, circuits, and techniques, building the company's intellectual property portfolio in next-generation processor design.
• Transfer proven concepts to product design teams with thorough documentation, clean prototype code, and the hands-on implementation guidance that ensures successful adoption into shipping programs.

What you will bring

Must-haves

• 5 to 8 years of experience in CPU design, advanced digital design, or architecture prototyping with a record of innovative technical contributions.
• Strong SystemVerilog design skills with the ability to prototype genuinely new ideas quickly while keeping the code clean enough to transfer.
• Deep microarchitecture knowledge spanning pipelines, memory hierarchies, interconnects, and emerging architectural directions.
• Experience with FPGA prototyping flows including synthesis, constraints, debug, and the pragmatics of mapping research RTL to FPGA fabrics.
• Quantitative rigor in characterizing prototypes honestly, including the intellectual honesty to identify concepts that do not work and explain why.
• Creativity in inventing new structures combined with sound engineering judgment about feasibility, cost, and risk.
• Clear communication skills for advocating research results persuasively to product-oriented engineering audiences.

Nice-to-haves

• PhD or equivalent research depth in computer architecture with publications or patents.
• Experience transferring research prototypes into shipped commercial products.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies such as novel memory devices, advanced packaging, or new transistor structures.
• Active engagement with the architecture research community through conferences or collaborations.