Senior Staff Engineer, GPU Design Verification (Formal Verification)

Samsung Electronics Perú; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 198,000 - 297,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Onsite lunch

Employee purchase program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Wellness incentives

Job summary

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. is seeking a Senior Staff GPU Design Verification Engineer – Formal Verification to shape block and subsystem level formal verification for next‑generation mobile GPUs at the SARC/ACL center in Austin.

You will define verification goals, properties, and sign‑off criteria, partnering with architecture and RTL teams to validate complex graphics and compute behavior. You will architect and implement formal verification environments, driving coverage attainment, and

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Engineering, or 8+ years with a Master’s Degree, or 6+ years with a Ph.D.
• 8+ years of hands‑on experience with GPU, CPU, or advanced semiconductor design verification with a focus in formal verification.
• Strong understanding of computer architecture and graphics pipelines.
• Strong programming and scripting skills in Python, Perl, C/C++, or equivalent.
• Proficient in System Verilog and System Verilog Assertions (SVA) languages.
• Strong expertise in formal verification methodologies, including property verification, data path checking, model checking, register verification, connectivity checking and coverage analysis.
• Hands‑on experience with industry‑standard formal verification EDA tools and methodologies.
• Excellent debugging, analytical, and problem‑solving skills, with proven ability to identify bottlenecks, propose solutions.
• Infuse out‑of‑box‑thinking and guide teams through different phases of design implementation.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and influence in a fast‑paced, global team environment.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement formal verification environments.
• Collaborate closely with architecture and RTL teams to develop assertions, properties, and formal models.
• Verify complex graphics and compute behavior to ensure functional and performance excellence.
• Drive debug, counterexample tracing, and root‑cause analysis to close verification gaps.
• Apply advanced verification techniques for proof depth, convergence, and cover scenarios.

Skills

GPU design verification

Formal verification

Python/Perl/C/C++

SystemVerilog/SVA

Debugging & problem solving

Collaboration

Mentoring

Clock/power gating

Education

Bachelor's in CS/Engineering

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

SystemVerilog

UVM

EDA verification tools

Confluence/JIRA

Job description

Position Summary

Samsung, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, is founded on a simple philosophy – the endless pursuit of excellence will create a better world for all. At Samsung Austin Research and Development Center (SARC) and Advanced Computing Lab (ACL), we are building a center of excellence for Intellectual Property (IP) that is applied to high-performance computing devices (mobile, automotive, and other custom market segments) consumed by millions of people around the world. Come build with us!

Role and Responsibilities

As a Senior Staff GPU Design Verification Engineer – Formal Verification, you will help shape block and subsystem level formal verification for Samsung’s next-generation mobile GPU. In this high-impact individual contributor role, you will contribute to the formal verification strategy and hands‑on verification of GPU designs, ensuring functional correctness, power gating mechanisms, and architectural intent. You bring strong expertise in formal methods, GPU design verification, and a strong innovative mindset to explore, experiment, and adopt new formal verification approaches supporting concurrent development cycles. Leveraging your expertise in one or more technical areas, you will contribute to the block and subsystem level formal verification strategy and execution by defining verification goals, properties, coverage objectives, and sign‑off criteria for critical GPU features, including clock and power gating.

You excel at architecting and implementing formal verification environments. You collaborate closely with architecture and RTL teams to develop assertions, properties, and formal models using industry‑standard formal tools and methodologies to validate complex graphics and compute behavior. You ensure functional and performance excellence by helping team apply formal techniques to exhaustively verify corner cases, state‑space behaviors, and safety properties that validate beyond simulation‑based verification. You help drive complex debug analysis and root‑cause resolution by analyzing formal failures, tracing counterexamples, and collaborating closely with design and architecture teams to ensure verification aligns with architectural intent and improve design robustness. You implement advanced formal verification techniques towards proof depth, bug hunting, complexity handling, bounded proof, failure triaging, cover scenarios and convergence analysis to achieve formal verification closure of GPU design features.

You adhere to project execution and planning approaches using Confluence, JIRA and relevant techniques, and create/maintain documentation for formal verification test plans, convergence reports, complexity analysis reports and results. You inspire high performance by mentoring engineers, fostering a culture of ownership, accountability and innovation driven execution, and staying ahead of emerging GPU and formal verification methodologies.

Skills and Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Engineering, or 8+ years of experience with a Master’s Degree, or 6+ years of experience with a Ph.D.
• 8+ years of hands‑on experience with GPU, CPU, or advanced semiconductor design verification with a focus in formal verification.
• Strong understanding of computer architecture and graphics pipelines.
• Strong programming and scripting skills in Python, Perl, C/C++, or equivalent.
• Proficient in System Verilog and System Verilog Assertions (SVA) languages.
• Strong expertise in formal verification methodologies, including property verification, data path checking, model checking, register verification, connectivity checking and coverage analysis.
• Hands‑on experience with industry‑standard formal verification EDA tools and methodologies.
• Excellent debugging, analytical, and problem‑solving skills, with proven ability to identify bottlenecks, propose solutions.
• Infuse out‑of‑box‑thinking and guide teams through different phases of design implementation.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and influence in a fast‑paced, global team environment.

Nice to Have

• Knowledge of memory subsystem or coherent interconnects is a plus.
• Proficiency in constrained random verification using IEEE 1800™ Universal Verification Methodology (UVM).
• Experience with developing new formal verification methodologies, flows, or tooling.
• Exposure to low‑power design techniques and verification of power intent (e.g., UPF concepts).
• Demonstrated passion for innovation, ideation, and advancing the state of formal verification practices.

Our Team

The GPU Design Verification team at SARC/ACL owns verification coverage for Samsung’s current and next‑generation mobile GPUs. Our work spans across three areas: Graphic Core, Subsystem Verification, and Formal Verification. As a globally distributed team, we work closely with architecture, design, software, emulation, and system‑level partners to ensure GPU designs function effectively as a complete system. Our Xclipse GPU is the first mobile GPU with ray tracing technology that enables console‑level graphics for Samsung Galaxy smartphones. You will join a diverse, collaborative organization to work on concurrent annual development lifecycles and see your work delivered in real consumer technologies. Here you’ll help build what’s next, broaden your expertise, and solve impactful challenges in a supportive environment that values collaboration, continuous learning, and growth.

Total Rewards

At Samsung – SARC/ACL, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $198,200 and $297,200. Your actual base pay will depend on variables that may include your education skills, qualifications, experience, and work location.

• medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401(k), onsite lunch, employee purchase program, tuition assistance (after 6 months), paid time off, student loan program, wellness incentives, and many more.
• regular full‑time employees (salaried or hourly) are eligible for MBO bonus compensation, based on company, division, and individual performance.
• Additionally, this role might be eligible to participate in long term incentive plan and relocation.
• This is an exempt position, which is not eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Trade Secrets

By submitting an application, you agree not to disclose to Samsung or induce or encourage Samsung to use any confidential or proprietary information (including trade secrets) belonging to a current or former employer or other entity.

U.S. Export Control

This role may require access to information subject to U.S. export control laws. Applicants must be authorized to access such information or eligible for government authorization.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and its subsidiaries are committed to employing a diverse workforce, and provide Equal Employment Opportunity for all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, status as a qualified individual with a disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

About Samsung

Samsung Electronics is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, and network systems, and the entire semiconductor industry with our memory, system LSI, foundry, and LED solutions. Samsung is also leading in the development of the Internet of Things through, among others, our Smart Home and Digital Health initiatives. Since being established in 1969, Samsung Electronics has grown into one of the world’s leading technology companies, and become recognized as one of the top global brands. Our network now extends across the world, and Samsung takes great pride in the creativity and diversity of its talented people, who drive our growth. To discover more, please visit our official newsroom at https://news.samsung.com/global/.