Director of Silicon Engineering, AI-Native Chip Design

Cognichip; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 260,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognichip is seeking a Director of Silicon Engineering to scale our AI-native chip design organization in Toronto. You will bridge deep technical leadership with strategic management, delivering production silicon while re-imagining workflows with AI-driven tools.

Lead a growing hardware team, collaborate with Product, SW and AI/ML groups, own the roadmap, and ensure on-time delivery of high-impact ASIC/SoC projects in a fast-moving startup environment.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of experience across ASIC/SoC architecture and design.
• Proven experience leading hardware teams of 20+ engineers.
• Track record shipping production ASIC/SoC end-to-end.
• Experience with AI/ML-driven chip design workflows and tooling.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and grow a high-performing hardware team.
• Set technical roadmap translating chip-design expertise into AI consumable knowledge bases and tool-aware workflows.
• Own delivery of production-quality outcomes on schedule, partnering with Product, SW and AI/ML teams.

Skills

20+ years exp

Team leadership

ASIC/SoC shipping

AI/ML-driven design

Job description

Job Title

Director of Silicon Engineering, AI-Native Chip Design

Job Title

Director of Silicon Engineering, AI-Native Chip Design

About Cognichip

• At Cognichip, we are building AI-native tools that transform how semiconductor engineers create, verify, and optimize chips.
• Our platform combines large proprietary models, agentic workflows, domain-specific engineering intelligence, and high-performance simulation infrastructure to accelerate one of the world’s most complex engineering disciplines.

About The Role

• We are seeking a Director of Silicon Engineering to scale our AI-native chip design organization.
• This leader will bridge deep technical expertise with strategic management to build a high-performing team.
• Collaborating with Product, SW, and AI teams, you will pioneer the next generation of AI-first hardware tools.
• The ideal candidate has a proven track record of shipping production silicon and a passion for re-imagining chip design workflows through an AI lens.

Key Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and grow a high-performing hardware engineering team, including hiring, mentoring, and establishing management structure as the org scales
• Set the technical roadmap for translating chip-design expertise into AI-consumable knowledge bases, agent playbooks, model training data, and tool-aware workflows
• Own delivery of production-quality outcomes on schedule, partnering closely with Product, SW and AI/ML teams

Required Qualifications

• 20+ years of experience across architecture, RTL design, verification, and physical design stages
• Proven experience building and leading engineering teams of 20+
• Track record of shipping multiple production ASIC/SoC products end-to-end
• Experience with, and exposure to, AI/ML-driven chip design workflows, tooling

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with CAD systems; experience integrating workflows with EDA tools
• Experience developing, interacting with, or influencing, multi-disciplinary products involving HW, SW and AI

What It's Like Here

• We’re a fast-moving AI startup with a collaborative, high-trust culture.
• We value technical excellence, ownership, and the freedom to experiment.
• Our best work happens when our builders and innovators work closely together to turn ambitious ideas into category defining products.
• We operate on a hybrid schedule with four days in office, one day remote.
• If you’re excited to build cutting edge tools that empower semiconductor engineers and reshape how chips are designed, you’ll feel right at home.