Post-Silicon Systems Validation Engineer, Annapurna Labs

Amazon; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 144,000 - 194,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

RSUs

Sign-on bonus

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Job summary

Annapurna Labs, AWS's silicon organization, seeks a Validation Engineer to drive end-to-end validation of ML accelerators. You will join a fast-paced team that blends hardware design, software, and cloud expertise to deliver high-quality AI hardware for AWS customers.

You will own validation across silicon, PCB, high-speed interfaces, and system integration, working with architecture, RTL, firmware, and software teams to ensure robust, scalable AI platforms.

Qualifications

• Strong programming skills across Python, Lua, C/C++, Rust, Go, etc.
• Solid understanding of computer architecture fundamentals.
• Experience with AWS services, cloud infrastructure, firmware development (BIOS, BMC, drivers).
• Validation experience in PCIe, HBM, GPUs, ML HW architecture or CI/CD.
• Familiarity with RTL simulation (SystemVerilog/UVM, VCS, Questa, Xcelium) and emulation (Palladium, Zebu, Veloce).

Responsibilities

• Develop validation strategies and detailed test plans for functional, performance, power, and stress tests from silicon bring-up to product release.
• Execute complex test plans across RTL simulation, emulation, and physical silicon validation.
• Perform hands-on silicon bring-up and debugging in the lab with scopes and protocol analyzers.
• Validate ML accelerator performance, accuracy, and reliability with real-world neural networks.
• Build test infrastructure, CI/CD, and automated regression for validation at scale.
• Collaborate across architecture, design, firmware, and software to triage failures and drive root-cause analysis.
• Review test results to identify patterns and improve design quality and coverage.
• Support production systems in AWS data centers and address field issues as they arise.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Rust

Computer architecture

AWS cloud

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/Math

Job description

Annapurna Labs, an AWS organization with development centers in the U.S. and Israel, builds custom silicon and software for AWS customers. Our team combines cloud-scale innovation with world-class expertise across silicon engineering, hardware design, verification, software, and operations to tackle technical challenges that have never been seen before.

Join our Silicon Validation team to validate next-generation machine learning accelerators that power AWS's cloud computing infrastructure. You'll work in a fast-paced, startup-like environment alongside some of the brightest minds in the industry on cutting-edge, internet-scale technology that directly impacts how customers use Machine Learning acceleration. We are changing the landscape of cloud infrastructure by accelerating the development of custom silicon by moving beyond traditional partnerships to dominate in AI training and inference.

Your work will span validation of the complete vertical stack—silicon, PCB, high-speed components (HBM, PCIe, chip-to-chip), inter-system connections, and system-to-system interfaces. You'll dive deep into new technology hardware components and scaling technologies that power our Machine Learning boards and servers at scale, ensuring every component of our hardware and software comes together into products our customers rely on.

Key job responsibilities

As a Validation Engineer on our Machine Learning Acceleration team, you'll own critical validation aspects across the entire product development lifecycle—from early design validation through emulation, silicon bring-up, post-silicon validation, and ongoing support of production systems deployed in AWS data centers. You'll collaborate deeply with architecture, RTL design, design verification, firmware, and software teams to ensure our next-generation AI/ML accelerators meet the highest standards of quality and performance. This role requires bridging multiple domains—from low-level hardware interfaces to high-level ML workloads—to deliver exceptional results.

We are looking for candidates with:

• Strong programming skills (Python, Lua, C/C++, Rust, Go, etc)
• A solid understanding of computer architecture
• Experience with AWS services, cloud infrastructure, firmware development (BIOS, BMC, drivers)
• Validation experience in any of these areas: PCIe, HBM, GPUs, neural networks, ML HW architecture, and/or CI/CD
• Familiarity with the validation lifecycle from RTL simulation (SystemVerilog/UVM, VCS, Questa, Xcelium) and emulation (Palladium, Zebu, Veloce) through silicon failure analysis and debug

A day in the life

• Developing comprehensive validation strategies and detailed test plans covering functional, performance, power, and stress testing from silicon bring-up to product release
• Executing complex test plans from RTL simulation and emulation environments through physical silicon validation
• Conducting hands-on silicon bring-up and debug in the lab using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and protocol analyzers
• Validating ML accelerator performance, accuracy, and reliability using real-world neural network workloads
• Building test infrastructure, CI/CD, and automated regression frameworks to enable efficient validation at scale
• Collaborating across architecture, design, firmware, and software teams to triage failures and drive root cause analysis to closure
• Reviewing test results, identifying patterns, and providing feedback to improve design quality and validation coverage
• Supporting production systems in AWS data centers and addressing field issues as they arise

Basic Qualifications

• 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
• 2+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
• Experience with Machine Learning and Large Language Model fundamentals, including architecture, training/inference lifecycles, and optimization of model execution, or experience working with PyTorch or JAX software
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics or equivalent, or experience in Java, C++, Python, or a related language
• 3+ years of experience with hardware performance counters and profiling tools for analyzing and optimizing system and application performance
• Strong understanding of computer architecture fundamentals including memory hierarchies (caches, DRAM, HBM), compute pipelines, and interconnect topologies
• Experience applying statistical methods, regression analysis, and data visualization techniques to interpret performance data and drive optimization decisions

Preferred Qualifications

• 3+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
• Experience with Machine Learning Hardware/Software Architecture
• Experience with CI/CD
• Experience with EDA Simulations or Emulation

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, TX, Austin - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually