Senior Digital Design Engineer - High-Speed I/O and Photonics

NVIDIA Corporation; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 136,000 - 265,000; Full time

Job summary

NVIDIA Corporation is seeking a highly skilled engineer for frontend development focusing on high-speed DSPs, silicon photonics IPs, and chip-level features. You will define programming models, interfaces, and collaborate with analog designers to translate specifications into RTL and firmware.

You will work on timing closure, PPA trade-offs, and post-silicon activities, with a hybrid work model and competitive compensation.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience in high-speed digital design and verification.
• Proficiency with Verilog/SystemVerilog and UVM verification methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Design and verify high-speed DSPs and silicon photonics IPs.
• Develop micro-architecture specs, calibration, and adaptation algorithms.
• Translate specifications into RTL and firmware, drive timing closure, and perform PPA evaluation.
• Contribute to silicon bring-up, testing scripts, and post-silicon characterization.

Skills

High-speed digital design

Verilog / SystemVerilog

Front-end design flow

Timing constraints / STA

UVM verification methodologies

Education

B.S./M.S. in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Verilog

SystemVerilog

EDA tools

Job description

NVIDIA has continuously reinvented itself over two decades. Our invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics, and revolutionized parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI — the next era of computing. NVIDIA is a “learning machine” that constantly evolves by adapting to new opportunities that are hard to solve, that only we can take on, and that matter to the world. This is our life’s work, to amplify human creativity and intelligence. Make the choice to join us today. The mixed-signal high-speed I/O group delivers innovative PHY designs that power the most powerful AI systems in the world today. Our portfolio includes PHY IPs and Chips for both copper and fiber channels, supporting NVIDIA's high-performance interconnect protocols: NVLINK, Ethernet, and InfiniBand. We recently delivered the industry's first 200G MRM-based silicon photonics chip, revolutionizing high-performance networking and enabling the era of Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) for NVIDIA. We enable groundbreaking technology that continually pushes the limits of wireline communication!

What You'll Be Doing:

While engaged in frontend development, your responsibilities will include working on a wide range of high-speed, powerful DSPs, silicon photonics IPs, and chips. You will participate in chip-level features, programming model and application interface definitions. You will collaborate closely with analog designers and system architects to develop micro-architecture specifications, calibration and adaptation algorithms, which then will be translated into RTL and firmware designs. For backend design, you will define, build synthesis constraints and drive timing closure. Evaluating PPA trade-offs based on synthesis and P&R feedbacks is a critical step toward the most optimized product. For post-silicon, you will actively participate in silicon bring-up, build testing scripts for debugging, characterization, performance tuning, and production. You will also work with cross-functional teams to ensure successful production.

What We Need to See:

B.S. or M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent experience. 5+ years of experience in high-speed digital design, proficient with front-end design flow and tools. Deep understanding of Verilog or System Verilog, logic design concepts, and typical structures. Good understanding of design for test, timing constraints, and static timing analysis. Experience with industry verification methodologies, such as UVM.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

Knowledge of optical transceiver devices and integrated components such as modulators, detectors, and TIAs. Experience with SerDes architecture and building blocks such as CDR, DFE, CTLE, TXFIR. Experience with digital assist analog designs, such as calibrations. Familiarity with mixed-signal circuit design concepts and experience in behavior modeling of mixed-signal circuits. Knowledge of physical layer and communication protocols, such as Ethernet, InfiniBand, PCIe, and USB. Understanding of on-chip microcontrollers and standard peripherals, with exposure to hardware and firmware co-design.

#LI-Hybrid Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 136,000 USD - 218,500 USD for Level 3, and 168,000 USD - 264,500 USD for Level 4. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits. Applications for this job will be accepted at least until June 12, 2026. This posting is for an existing vacancy. NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes. NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law. NVIDIA pioneered accelerated computing. Today, our AI infrastructure powers global intelligence, transforming every industry. Learn more about NVIDIA.