Hardware Engineer, Lead Architect

Drive Capital; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Normal Computing is seeking a Hardware Lead Architect to design silicon and system microarchitecture for a novel AI accelerator platform, targeting large energy-efficiency gains for LLM and diffusion workloads. You will translate workloads into hardware specs, drive cross-team validation with RTL and analog groups, and optimize the full stack from datapath to power under tight tapeout timelines.

The role requires strong background in digital architectures, quantization, and performance modeling,

Qualifications

• Degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, CS, or equivalent.
• Experience in architecture or microarchitecture of high-performance digital systems (AI accelerators, compute engines).
• Fluency in translating workloads to datapath widths, pipelines, and power estimates.
• Experience with simulation-driven architecture and cycle-accurate models.
• Familiarity with quantization and reduced-precision approaches for inference.
• Experience writing microarchitecture specifications and collaborating with RTL engineers.
• Proficiency in Python or C++ for performance modeling; familiarity with SystemVerilog.

Responsibilities

• Define AI accelerator compute blocks' architecture and datapath.
• Translate workload analysis into hardware specifications for RTL.
• Defend full-stack PPA tradeoffs across algorithm, memory, interconnect and physical design.
• Collaborate on ISA co-design with the compiler lead.
• Lead pre-silicon prototyping strategy with FPGA teams and de-risk tapeout.
• Stay current with AI accelerator research and articulate differentiators.

Skills

Architecture design

Simulation-driven design

Python or C++ modeling

SystemVerilog familiarity

Quantization/reduced-precision

Workload-to-hardware translation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or equivalent

Tools

SystemVerilog

RTL tooling

Job description

Normal Computing | Build with Us

Normal is an applied AI company solving the hardest problems in AI and silicon. We build foundational hardware and software for the semiconductor industry, critical AI infrastructure, and the broader systems that power our world, in partnership with the world's most advanced institutions. We work as one team across New York City, Silicon Valley (Mountain View), London, Copenhagen, and Seoul.

The Role

As a Hardware Lead Architect, you will define the silicon and system microarchitecture for our custom unconventional compute platform—driving the architectural trade-offs that unlock a 100–1000x leap in energy efficiency over traditional digital chips for LLM and diffusion model inference.

You will lead the hardware/software co-design efforts to break the von Neumann memory wall. By translating transformer architectures (KV-cache management, attention mechanisms) and diffusion execution flows into custom mixed-signal compute tiles, memory hierarchies, and tile interconnects, you will set the blueprint for our hardware. Working closely with compiler, RTL, and analog teams, you will build performance models, establish microarchitectural specifications, and ensure our custom silicon delivers maximum throughput-per-watt on real-world generative AI workloads.

What You Will Own

• Compute Architecture: Help define the architecture and microarchitecture of novel AI accelerator compute blocks: PE array design, datapath organization, and support for efficiency techniques such as sparsity exploitation and reduced-precision computation. The compute tile is the surface where Normal's research advantages have to show up in silicon, and you are one of the people responsible for making sure they do.

• Workload-to-Hardware Translation: Translate workload analysis and research findings into hardware specifications. Identify where architectural innovation creates the most leverage, define the structures that realize it, and produce microarchitecture documents unambiguous enough for RTL engineers to implement against. You work closely with them through implementation, not over the wall from it.

• Full-Stack PPA Tradeoffs: Reason across the full stack and defend PPA tradeoffs at every level. Move between algorithm-level workload behavior, memory hierarchy, on-chip interconnect, and physical design constraints. Make the call when the data is incomplete, and articulate why under scrutiny from our Systems Architect and the research team.

• ISA Co-Design: Partner with the compiler lead on ISA co-design. The programming model and the microarchitecture are defined together, and you are accountable for both sides meeting in the middle.

• Prototyping Strategy: Direct block-level pre-silicon validation. Decide which microarchitecture questions need to be answered, and the appropriate platform. Partner with our FPGA Design Engineers, who own implementation and bring-up, to de-risk decisions before tapeout. Work with the Systems Architect to make sure there are no gaps from block to System-level validation.

• Research Fluency: Stay current with the AI accelerator research landscape and be able to articulate clearly where Normal's approach differs from existing solutions and why that matters. This is a research-adjacent seat and you are expected to read, possibly publish, and not just consume.

What Makes You a Great Fit

• A degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent work experience. PhD welcome but not required; the bar is the work, not the credential.

• Substantial experience in architecture or microarchitecture of high-performance digital systems: AI accelerators, compute engines, or similarly complex logic. You have shaped and directed the structures inside a chip, not just consumed them from the outside.

• Fluency moving between algorithm-level analysis and hardware specification. You can read a profile of a workload and translate it into datapath widths, pipeline stages, and area/power estimates without losing the thread on either side.

• Experience with simulation-driven architecture. You have used cycle-accurate or analytical models to make and defend design decisions before RTL exists, and you know which questions each tool can answer and which it cannot.

• Familiarity with quantization and reduced-precision approaches for inference and their implementation implications. You understand the cost of a bit at the hardware level, not just the model level.

• Experience writing microarchitecture specifications and working closely with RTL engineers through implementation.

• Proficiency in Python or C++ for performance modeling and analysis, and familiarity with SystemVerilog or equivalent RTL.

• Comfort operating in an environment where the architecture is actively being discovered alongside the work. You do not need the answer to be already known to make progress on it.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Normal Computing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.

Accessibility Accommodations

Normal Computing is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know at [e-mail].

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