Principal Engineer Memory Architect

MaxLinear; Carlsbad (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 198,000; Full time

Job summary

MaxLinear is seeking a senior memory IP engineer to design and optimize memory architectures for SoC integration. You will lead SRAM and register-file based solutions, leveraging memory compilers or custom designs to achieve high performance, low power, and area efficiency.

You will guide roadmaps, participate in architecture selection, and drive PPA trade-offs with multi-disciplinary teams and external IP vendors.

Qualifications

• Deep understanding of embedded SRAM and register-file architectures with bit-cell fundamentals and array layout considerations.
• Strong knowledge of low-power techniques, read/write assist, design robustness, margining, and power integrity considerations.
• Experience analyzing memory behavior across PVT corners and evaluating timing, reliability, signal integrity, and SoC-level trade-offs.
• Understanding of memory compiler flows and verification methodologies for both compiled and custom memories.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across multidisciplinary teams and strategic/hands-on influence.

Responsibilities

• Design, define, evaluate, and optimize memory IP across advanced technology nodes.
• Leverage memory architecture and system-level awareness to deliver high-performance, power-efficient memory solutions for SoC integration.
• Collaborate with IP and SoC teams to guide memory IP roadmaps, architecture selection, and trade-offs for PPA and robustness.
• Own design and optimization of memory architectures based on SRAMs, ROMs, and register files using memory compilers or custom designs.
• Deliver competitive memory IP solutions and enable seamless integration into SoCs.
• Work with cross-functional engineering teams and external IP vendors to develop scalable QA methodologies and verification frameworks.

Skills

Embedded SRAM

Register-file architectures

Low-power techniques

PVT timing and margins

Memory IP verification

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering (or higher)

Tools

HSPICE

Spectre

Python

Cadence Virtuoso

Job description

Responsibilities

• Design, define, evaluate, and optimize memory intellectual property across advanced technology nodes
• Leverage your memory architecture expertise, circuit-level understanding, and system-level awareness to deliver high-performance, power-efficient, area-optimized, and reliable memory solutions for SoC integration
• Work closely with IP and SoC teams to provide technical direction for memory IP roadmaps, architecture selection, compiler evaluation, and trade-off decisions involving PPA and robustness
• Own the design and optimization of memory architectures, based on SRAMs, ROMs, and register files, using memory compilers or custom designs
• Deliver competitive memory IP solutions and enabling seamless integration into SoCs
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams and external IP vendors, and developing scalable QA methodologies, automation flows, and verification frameworks for consistent memory IP evaluation

Qualifications

• Deep understanding of embedded SRAM and register-file architectures, including bit-cell fundamentals, array layout considerations, and PPA trade-offs
• Strong knowledge of low-power techniques, read/write assist techniques, design stability and robustness, design margining and power integrity considerations
• Experience analyzing memory behavior across PVT corners and evaluating timing, reliability, signal integrity, and SoC-level trade-offs
• Strong understanding of memory compiler flows and verification methodologies, with the ability to assess both compiled and custom memory solutions
• Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams and influence technical decisions at both strategic and hands‑on levels
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Proficiency with EDA and analysis tools HSPICE, Spectre, Python, and related memory verification or modeling environments
  • Familiarity with SoC design flows and interactions among memory IP, standard cells, I/O libraries, clocking, system buses, and interface protocols
  • Familiarity with ROMs, flash memories, OTPs is a plus
  • Understanding of advanced-node scaling, PVT variation impacts, memory behavior across corners, and silicon validation practices
  • Familiarity with transistor-level circuit design and analysis, and experience using IC design or simulation tools such as HSPICE, Spectre, or Cadence Virtuoso, is a plus
  • Experience with QA methodologies, validation frameworks, technical roadmaps
• BS in Electrical Engineering or related + 9 years of experience, or MS + 7 years of experience, or Ph.D. + 4 years of experience

Compensation And Benefits

MaxLinear has a Total Compensation philosophy which includes base salary and annual discretionary bonus eligibility and many positions also include stock-based compensation.

MaxLinear's good faith estimate starting base salary range is: $135,000 to $ 198,000 Annually

We offer competitive benefits designed to support employee health, welfare, and retirement and some highlights are: health care benefits, 401k savings plan, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), and paid time off.

The actual starting base salary will be determined by the match to certain role-related criteria such as educational degree(s) or equivalent, relevant work experience, skillset needed for the role, and geographic location; this is not an all-inclusive list as some roles may require unique skills or experience.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on race, sex, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.

Company Overview

MaxLinear is a global, NASDAQ-traded company (MXL) where the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. We are a fabless system-on-chip product company, striving to improve the world’s communication networks for everyone through our highly integrated radio-frequency (RF), analog, digital, and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for access and connectivity, wired and wireless infrastructure, and industrial and multi-market applications.

We hire the best people in the industry and engage them in some of the most exciting opportunities that connect the world we live in today. Our growth has come from innovative, bold approaches to solving some of the world’s most challenging communication technology problems in the most efficient and effective manner.

MaxLinear began by developing the world’s first high-performance TV tuner chip using standard CMOS process technology. Others said we couldn’t achieve the extremely high-performance requirements using CMOS, but we proved them wrong and achieved enduring global market leadership with our designs. Since then, we’ve developed a full line of products that drive 4G and 5G infrastructure; enable data center, metro and long-haul optical interconnects; bring 10Gbit to the home; power the IoT revolution; and enable robust and reliable communication in harsh industrial environments. Over the years, we’ve expanded through organic growth and through several acquisitions that have perfectly complemented our existing portfolio and enabled us to deliver complete end-to-end solutions in our target markets. One such example was the acquisition of Intel’s Home Gateway Platform Division that added Wi‑Fi, Ethernet, and Broadband Gateway Processor SoC technology to our connected home portfolio creating a complete and scalable platform of connectivity and access solutions to fully address our customers’ needs.

Our headquarters are in Carlsbad, near San Diego, California. We also have major design centers in Irvine and San Jose, California; Valencia, Spain; Bangalore, India; Munich, Germany; Israel; and Singapore.

We have approximately 1,200 employees, a substantial majority of whom have engineering degrees and include masters and Ph.D. graduates from many of the premiere universities around the world. Our employees thrive on innovation, outstanding execution, outside-the-box thinking, nimbleness, and collaboration. Together, we form a high-energy business team that is focused on building the best and most innovative products on the market.