Edge & Physical AI HW Product Manager/Director

NXP Semiconductors NV; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

NXP Semiconductors NV is seeking a senior hardware product leader to define and drive multi‑generational NPU roadmaps and associated IP integration. You will translate customer needs and competitive insights into silicon specifications, lead architecture tradeoffs, and own business cases from BOM to margins.

This requires close collaboration with architects, engineering leads, and executive stakeholders. You will own make‑vs‑buy and IP licensing decisions, define chiplet strategies for scale‑out

Qualifications

• 10+ years in product management or strategy in semiconductors or silicon IP.
• Experience defining silicon product specs: performance, memory, power, packaging, process nodes.
• Strong understanding of SoC/IP integration and multi-chip interconnect standards.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain multi-generational hardware roadmap for NPUs and related IP.
• Translate requirements into silicon product specifications including performance targets and memory architecture.
• Drive architecture decisions and feature tradeoffs with silicon architects and engineering leads.
• Own business cases: BOM cost, ASP, gross margin targets, volume projections, NPV.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Product strategy

Silicon/IP integration

Architecture tradeoffs

Education

MBA or advanced engineering degree

Bachelor’s or higher in EE/CE

Job description

Job Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the multi-generational hardware roadmap across discrete NPUs (Ara series), i.MX-integrated NPU IP, and chiplet-based scale-out architectures
• Translate customer requirements and competitive intelligence into silicon product specifications including performance targets (TOPS, TOPS/W, TOPS/sq.mm), memory architecture, power, I/O, packaging, safety and process node decisions
• Drive product definition through architecture review, design partitioning, and feature tradeoff decisions in close collaboration with silicon architects and engineering leads
• Own the business case for each hardware product — BOM cost, ASP, gross margin targets, volume projections, and NPV — and present investment recommendations to executive leadership
• Lead make-vs-buy-vs-IP-license assessments for new capabilities including MAC array architectures like in‑memory compute, non‑uniform memory subsystems, memory architectures and interconnect IP like UCIe
• Define chiplet strategy for scale‑out NPU configurations — including die partitioning, die‑to‑die interface selection, and multi‑chip package requirements to support larger model inference workloads
• Partner with the i.MX, S32 SoC, i.MCU, and RT product teams to define NPU IP integration requirements, including power domains, bus interfaces, memory bandwidth allocation, software‑hardware co‑design constraints, SoC bring‑up, and debugging.
• Drive early access and customer sampling programs; gather validated product requirements from lead customers and feed them into architecture decisions before freeze
• Own the competitive benchmarking framework — track competing NPU silicon from Qualcomm, Nvidia, RockChip, Hailo, Axelera, Ambarella, and others; define differentiation strategy on formfactors, performance, power, cost, safety, support and software ecosystem
• Manage product lifecycle from definition through ramp, sustaining, and EOL — including customer transition plans across generations
• Represent the NPU hardware portfolio to NXP executive leadership, customers, partners, and at industry events
• Co‑own SW development of dNPU, integrated and chiplet based designs w/ the SW product manager
• Develop end‑to‑end system solutions and demonstration platforms for hardware and software developers at industry events and conferences.

Job Qualifications

• 10+ years of product management or product strategy experience in semiconductor or silicon IP, with direct ownership of hardware product definition and roadmap
• Hands‑on experience defining silicon product specifications — performance targets, memory architecture, power envelopes, packaging, and process node decisions
• Strong understanding of SoC and IP integration — experience defining IP for integration into a host processor or SoC is strongly preferred
• Familiarity with chiplet architectures and multi-chip interconnect standards (UCIe, BoW, or equivalent) is a significant plus
• Track record of driving design wins and customer adoption across multiple product generations
• Ability to build and defend business cases including BOM cost, ASP, gross margin, and market sizing
• Experience with competitive analysis and differentiation strategy in a fast‑moving semiconductor segment
• Strong cross‑functional leadership skills — ability to drive alignment across architecture, engineering, sales, marketing, and executive stakeholders
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to represent complex technical tradeoffs to both engineering teams and executive audiences

Good To Have

• Direct experience in AI/ML inference silicon — NPU, GPU, or inference accelerator product management
• Familiarity with inference workloads including CNNs, transformers, LLMs, and VLM variants deployed at the edge
• Experience working with ODMs, OEMs, and contract manufacturers on board design, system integration, and production
• Background in industrial, automotive, or embedded edge markets
• MBA or advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline

More information about NXP in the United States...

NXP is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer regardless of age, color, national origin, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status as a disabled veteran and/or veteran of the Vietnam Era or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, NXP will provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified disabled individuals.