RTL Design Engineer

Normal Computing Corp.; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Normal Computing is seeking an RTL Design Engineer to design and verify the digital logic at the heart of its thermodynamic hardware. You will own RTL from microarchitecture to tapeout, writing synthesizable SystemVerilog and building verification environments with UVM, cocotb, or formal tools.

You will work closely with architects and physical designers to ensure correctness and realizability. This role blends design and verification, demanding silicon experience and a track record of tapeouts.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience writing production RTL in SystemVerilog and closing it through synthesis and place‑and‑route.
• Experience authoring verification environments (UVM, cocotb, formal) or equivalent.
• At least one tapeout in background from any node or company size.
• Ability to work across design and verification without strict separation.

Responsibilities

• Write and own synthesizable RTL in SystemVerilog across datapath to memory interfaces.
• Author functional verification environments using UVM, cocotb, formal property checking.
• Translate high-level specs into implementable microarchitectures with architecture teams.
• Collaborate with physical design on timing, floorplanning, and DFT.
• Develop and maintain simulation infrastructure, regression pipelines, and coverage flows.
• Participate in design reviews and contribute to architecture decisions.
• Support tapeout preparation, integration, and post-silicon bring‑up.

Skills

SystemVerilog RTL

RTL verification

UVM

cocotb

Formal methods

Tools

Verificatio n tools

Job description

About Normal Computing

Normal Computing builds silicon that turns thermal noise from an obstacle into a computational resource. Conventional chips spend most of their energy forcing determinism onto physics; ours compute with it. Stochastic, in-memory, asynchronous: the result is 10-100× more AI inference per dollar, per watt.

We co‑design the full stack: AI‑native EDA systems in production with the world's largest semiconductor companies, and the advanced ASICs they make possible. Backed by $85M+ from the world's leading deep‑tech investors and built by scientists, engineers, and operators from the labs that built modern computing.

Normal works as one team across New York, Silicon Valley, London, Copenhagen, and Seoul. We hire people who want the hardest version of their craft, across every discipline, at every seniority.

The Role

As an RTL Design Engineer at Normal, you will design and verify the digital logic at the heart of Normal's thermodynamic hardware. This work sits at the intersection of classical ASIC design, novel computing architectures, and a development environment where the hardware and the algorithms are built together, not in sequence.

You will own RTL from microarchitecture to tapeout: writing synthesizable SystemVerilog, authoring verification environments in UVM, cocotb, or formal tools, and working closely with architecture and physical design to make sure what you build is both functionally correct and physically realizable. Because Normal's chips are not standard accelerators, the RTL engineer here is closer to first‑principles decisions than at a larger company. You will be shaping architecture, not just implementing it.

This is a role for an engineer who does not draw a hard line between design and verification. The strongest candidates have taped out silicon, written both RTL and testbenches, and are comfortable working in an environment where the specification is still being developed in parallel.

What You'll Own

• RTL Design: Write and own synthesizable RTL in SystemVerilog across blocks ranging from datapath logic to control and memory interfaces.

• Verification: Author functional verification environments using UVM, cocotb, formal property checking, or a combination.

• Microarchitecture: Work with architecture to translate high‑level specifications into implementable microarchitectures.

• Physical Design Collaboration: Collaborate with physical design on timing closure, floorplanning constraints, and DFT.

• Simulation Infrastructure: Develop and maintain simulation infrastructure, regression pipelines, and coverage closure flows.

• Design Reviews: Participate in design reviews and contribute to architecture decisions, not just implementation.

• Tapeout & Bring‑up: Support tapeout preparation, integration, and post‑silicon bring‑up as needed.

What Makes You a Great Fit

• Hands‑on experience writing production RTL in SystemVerilog and closing it through synthesis and place‑and‑route

• Experience authoring verification environments in UVM, cocotb, formal, or equivalent, not just running existing testbenches

• At least one tapeout in your background, from any node and any company size

• Comfort operating across both design and verification without treating them as separate disciplines

• Experience working on datapaths, pipelines, or custom logic where the microarchitecture was not fully specified upfront

• Strong debugging instincts across simulation, waveforms, and formal counterexamples

• Ability to work directly with architects and physical designers without needing a large intermediary layer

• Industry experience in ASIC or SoC design

Bonus Points

• Experience at an AI chip company where design and verification were tightly coupled

• Open‑source RTL contributions to projects like Chipyard, OpenTitan, or CVA6

• Familiarity with RISC‑V or other open ISAs

• Experience with AI‑assisted RTL or EDA tooling in your design workflow

• Exposure to physical design constraints, floorplanning, or timing‑driven RTL development

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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