CPU Core Physical Design Thermal Modeling Lead - CA, Santa Clara, United States
Originally posted 12 August 2026 by the employer.
Lead thermal modeling for CPU Cores and SOC.
About the role
This role focuses on ensuring CPU Cores and SOC meet thermal requirements and silicon performance. This is a technical role focusing on Physical design methodology for power and thermals across IPs.
What you'll do
- Drive development and alignment of thermal modeling methodology, collaborating with Package modeling teams.
- Drive new design and analysis methodologies to improve product thermal profile.
- Translate product usage model, workload, and package requirements into IP performance, power, and thermal constraints.
- Drive thermal product requirements cross-function, managing critical deliverables at key project milestones.
What you'll need
- Strong Physical Design background with extensive EDA tool experience.
- Excellent knowledge of physical design power and performance metrics.
- Experience in high-performance SoC/IP design.
- Familiarity with package models and advance packaging designs.
- Familiarity collaborating with pre‑silicon design and package modeling teams.
- Expertise in scripting and flow automation.
Nice to have
- Bachelors or Masters degree in computer engineering/Electrical Engineering
This role has been open 66 days — well above the 50-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
966
|
Median days open
50 d
|
Median salary
$156k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | AMD | All employers we track in this specialty (966 roles · 102 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 47 | 966 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 406 | 6114 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 49 d | 50 d (−1 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $156k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 74 open roles · median 35 d
- KLA Corporation · 65 open roles · median 43 d
- Teradyne · 57 open roles · median 29 d
- NVIDIA · 52 open roles · median 67 d
- Applied Materials · 50 open roles · median 65 d
- AMD (this employer) · 47 open roles · median 49 d
How we counted: 966 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 102 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 17 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.