Formal Verification Engineer

Acceler8 Talent; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Acceler8 Talent is seeking a Formal Verification Engineer to lead the verification strategy for AI accelerator silicon.

You'll own block- and SoC-level verification, develop SVA/PSL properties, and collaborate with architecture, RTL, and software teams to drive robust hardware from first silicon through future generations. This is a hands-on, high-impact role in an early-stage startup.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent experience in formal verification.
• 8+ years of experience verifying complex SoCs.
• Expertise in SVA and PSL property authoring and convergence.
• Experience debugging formal failures with RTL designers.
• Experience with VC Formal or JasperGold or equivalent tools.
• Strong understanding of modern digital design and microarchitecture.

Responsibilities

• Own block- and SoC-level formal verification for AI accelerator silicon from property development to proof convergence.
• Develop SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA) and formal environments to verify microarchitectural and system-level behavior.
• Debug proof failures and collaborate with RTL designers to drive closure.
• Build and improve verification methodologies and AI-assisted flows.
• Apply formal techniques from architecture validation to silicon bring-up readiness.
• Partner with design, verification, and software teams to ensure robust hardware.

Skills

Formal verification

SVA/PSL

Debugging formal failures

RTL collaboration

Education

Master's degree or equivalent

Tools

Synopsys VC Formal

Cadence JasperGold

Job description

Formal Verification Engineer

Acceler8 Talent is partnering with an early-stage AI hardware startup to hire a Formal Verification Engineer to help redesign AI datacenter infrastructure and silicon.

As the first Formal Verification hire, you'll own the formal verification strategy for critical blocks and SoC-level functionality, proving correctness on complex hardware while helping shape verification methodologies from first silicon through future generations of our platform. You'll work closely with architecture, RTL, and software teams, and have the opportunity to leverage cutting-edge AI-assisted verification workflows to solve problems that don't have established playbooks.

What You’ll Do:

• Own block- and SoC-level formal verification for AI accelerator silicon, from property development through proof convergence.
• Develop SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA) and formal verification environments to verify complex microarchitectural and system-level behavior.
• Debug proof failures, identify root causes, and collaborate with RTL designers and architects to drive closure.
• Build and improve formal verification methodologies, infrastructure, and AI-assisted verification flows, including AI agents that accelerate proof generation and convergence.
• Apply formal techniques throughout the development cycle, from early architectural validation through silicon bring-up readiness.
• Partner closely with design, verification, and software teams to ensure robust, scalable hardware.

What They’re Looking For:

• Master's degree (or equivalent experience) plus 8+ years of experience in formal verification for complex SoCs.
• Deep expertise in formal verification methodologies, including property authoring (SVA and/or PSL), proof strategies, abstraction techniques, and convergence.
• Strong experience debugging formal failures and working directly with RTL designers to resolve issues.
• Hands-on experience with industry-standard formal verification tools such as Synopsys VC Formal, Cadence JasperGold, or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of modern digital design and microarchitecture.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with processor verification or security verification.
• Equivalence checking (LEC/SEC) experience.
• AMS verification or IP verification flow experience.
• Experience building automation or AI-assisted verification workflows.

Why Join?

• Own verification for critical AI accelerator hardware at an early-stage company.
• Work on technically ambitious silicon with significant architectural influence.
• Help define next-generation AI-assisted formal verification methodologies.
• Collaborate with a small, highly experienced team building cutting-edge AI infrastructure from the ground up.