CPU Silicon Validation Engineer: Bring-Up & Testing

Apple Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Austin, TX is seeking a CPU validation engineer to help ensure the functional correctness of our CPUs.

You will develop CPU test content, define new test cases for cutting‑edge designs, and lead silicon bring‑up efforts across pre‑silicon FPGAs and post‑silicon development boards. The role requires a BS with 3+ years in CPU architecture, strong C/C++ and scripting skills, and a passion for debugging complex silicon issues.

Qualifications

• BS in EE/CS/CE with 3+ years in hardware validation.
• Experience with CPU architecture and validation.
• Proficient in C/C++ and Python or Perl for tooling and automation.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with CPU RTL and DV teams to understand changes and create test content.
• Develop CPU validation test plans ensuring coverage of key features.
• Create and integrate SW workloads to stress test the CPU in validation environments.
• Maintain and enhance the random test generator for new CPU features.
• Drive silicon bring-up and validation tool execution in pre-/post-silicon stages (FPGAs and dev boards).
• Debug functional silicon failures with Design and DV teams.

Skills

CPU architecture

C/C++ programming

Python/Perl scripting

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering / Computer Science / Computer Engineering

Job description

Imagine what you could do here. At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Dynamic, intelligent people and inspiring, innovative technologies are the norm here. The same passion for innovation that goes into our products also applies to our practices strengthening our commitment to leave the world better than we found it. Do you want to join us in these pursuits? Join us to help deliver the next groundbreaking Apple product!In this role, you will be at the center of a chip design effort that collaborates with many disciplines and has a critical impact on getting functional products to millions of customers. You will be part of a team responsible for the functional validation of our CPUs, with the aim of identifying logic design and circuit bugs. You will be developing CPU test content using our test generators, defining new test cases for our cutting-edge CPU designs, and spearheading our silicon bring-up efforts.

Description

• Work closely with CPU RTL and DV teams to understand changes to our CPU designs and to engineer test content for new CPU features• Create CPU validation test plans, ensuring all key features are covered• Develop SW workloads to stress test the CPU and integrate these into our existing validation environments• Help maintain and improve our random test generator by adding support for new CPU architectural and microarchitectural features• Drive the bring-up and execution of our silicon validation tools in pre-silicon (FPGAs) and post-silicon (development boards)• Debug functional silicon failures closely with Design and DV counterparts

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum BS and 3+ years of relevant industry experience
• Experience with CPU architecture
• Experience in programming in C or C++ and scripting in Python or Perl

Preferred Qualifications

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or Computer Engineering
• Understanding of CPU architecture including instruction sets, pipelines, caches, and memory subsystems
• Experience with assembly programming (ARM ISA is a plus)
• Knowledge of operating system fundamentals including kernel execution, privilege levels, memory management, and virtual machines
• Good understanding of the logic design and verification process
• Background in silicon bring-up and system debug experience is a plus
• Strong problem-solving skills

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant

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Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.