Silicon Architect

Socket.dev; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 198,000 - 233,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Mental health resources

PTO 20 days

Holidays 13

Wellness time off

Sick leave

Parental leave

Collaborative culture

Job summary

Oura in San Francisco is seeking a Silicon Architect to define the custom silicon powering our next generation wearables. You will gather requirements from product, hardware, firmware, and software teams and translate them into clear silicon architecture, interfaces, and targets.

You will partner with semiconductor vendors and internal teams to evaluate options, drive execution on timelines, and ensure production readiness, while staying ahead of industry trends in wearable electronics.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in semiconductor definition and architecture for high-volume consumer devices.
• Translate cross-functional requirements into clear silicon specifications.
• Deep knowledge of RTL to production ramp and semiconductor flows.
• Experience collaborating with external vendors and foundries.

Responsibilities

• Define and communicate custom-silicon architectures for wearable platforms.
• Gather requirements from product, hardware, firmware, software, and ops teams.
• Translate system requirements into silicon targets, interfaces and power targets.
• Partner with silicon vendors to evaluate options and drive execution to timelines.
• Lead technical discussions and trade-offs with vendors across compute, memory, power, packaging, test.
• Define validation, bring-up, and production-readiness plans with internal teams.

Skills

Silicon architecture

Requirements gathering

Low-power design

Vendor liaison

System architecture

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in EE/CS

Tools

RTL/Verilog

VLSI CAD tools

Job description

Our mission at Oura is to empower every person to own their inner potential. Our award-winning products help our global community gain a deeper knowledge of their readiness, activity, and sleep quality by using their Oura Ring and its connected app. We've helped millions of people understand and improve their health by providing daily insights and practical steps to inspire healthy lifestyles.

Empowering the world starts with living our values and empowering our team. As a quickly growing company focused on helping people live healthier and happier lives, we ensure that our team members have what they need to do their best work - both in and out of the office.

We are looking for a Silicon Architect to join Oura’s hardware organization and define the custom silicon that will enable the next generation of our wearable products. In this role, you will gather and synthesize requirements from internal stakeholders, translate product and system needs into clear silicon requirements, and work closely with semiconductor vendors and technology partners to shape the architecture, roadmap, and execution plan for new custom silicon.

This is a highly collaborative role spanning product, engineering, operations, and external silicon partners. The ideal candidate brings strong system-level judgment, deep semiconductor knowledge, and the ability to drive clarity and alignment through technically complex and ambiguous problems. This opportunity will be hybrid in San Francisco.

What You will do:

• Define and communicate custom-silicon architectures for Oura’s future wearable platforms, balancing performance, power, size, schedule, cost, and risk.
• Gather requirements from product, hardware, firmware, software, algorithms, sensing, and operations teams, and translate them into silicon capabilities, interfaces, performance targets, and power targets
• Partner with silicon vendors to translate system requirements into silicon requirements, assessing architecture options, and driving execution within product timelines
• Lead technical discussions and trade-off decisions with vendors across compute, memory, connectivity, security, power, packaging, test, and manufacturing considerations.
• Work with internal engineering teams and vendors to define validation, characterization, bring-up, and production-readiness plans.
• Stay current on emerging semiconductor technologies, process capabilities, packaging approaches, and industry trends relevant to wearable health products.

Requirements:

• 10+ years of experience in semiconductor definition and architecture, SoC or ASIC development, or system architecture, for high volume consumer electronics devices
• Experience gathering cross-functional requirements and converting them into clear, measurable silicon and system specifications
• Strong understanding of semiconductor development flows, including architecture, RTL/design, verification, physical implementation, tape-out, bring-up, characterization, qualification, and production ramp
• Experience working directly with semiconductor vendors, foundries, design houses, or other external technology partners
• Deep understanding of low-power design and optimization, including power modeling, power states, and system-level power trade-offs
• Familiarity with compute blocks and accelerators such as CPUs, NPUs, DSPs, as well as memory systems, high-speed and low-speed interfaces, and embedded connectivity
• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous environments, organize complex work, make decisions with incomplete information, and drive programs forward
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and align senior leaders and external partners
• Demonstrated technical leadership, ownership, and ability to influence without direct authority

Benefits

At Oura, we care about you and your well-being. Everyone here at Oura has a ring of their own and we are continually looking to improve employee health and add to our benefits!

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Health, dental, vision insurance, and mental health resources
• An Oura Ring of your own plus employee discounts for friends & family
• 20 days of paid time off plus 13 paid holidays plus 8 days of flexible wellness time off
• Paid sick leave and parental leave
• Amazing culture of collaborative and passionate coworkers

Oura takes a market-based approach to pay, which may vary depending on your location. US locations are categorized into tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. While most offers will be closer to the starting range, successful candidates' pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, internal peer equity, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

• Region 1 (SF): $198,050 - $233,000
• Region 2 (SD): $180,200 - $212,000

A recruiter can determine your zones/tiers based on your US location.

Oura is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Individuals seeking employment at Oura are considered without regard to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.