CPU Micro-architect/RTL Designer (Multiple Locations) - Austin, Texas, United States of America
$148,300 - $250,700 USD yearly
Originally posted 17 March 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role involves CPU RTL development targeted for high performance, low power devices. You will work with chip architects to conceive micro-architecture and support architecture and product definition early in the product life cycle.
What you'll do
- Explore high performance strategies in collaboration with the CPU modeling team. - Drive microarchitecture development and specification from high-level architectural exploration to detailed technical specifications. - Own RTL development, assessment, and refinement to meet power, performance, area, and timing targets. - Support the design verification team in executing the functional verification strategy. - Assist in performance verification to ensure the RTL design satisfies target performance goals. - Work with multi-functional engineering teams to implement and validate physical design across timing, area, reliability, and testability.
What you'll need
- Knowledge of microprocessor architecture concepts such as instruction fetch and decode, branch prediction, instruction scheduling, out-of-order execution, load/store execution, or memory subsystems. - Proficiency in Verilog or VHDL, with hands-on experience using simulators and waveform debugging tools. - Understanding of logic design principles, including timing and power implications. - Knowledge of low power microarchitecture techniques. - Understanding of high performance techniques and microarchitectural trade-offs in CPUs. - Scripting experience using languages such as Perl or Python.
Skills: performance exploration, microarchitecture development, RTL design, microprocessor architecture, Verilog, low power microarchitecture techniques
This role has been open 200 days — slightly above the 199-day median for SoC/Chip Architecture roles.
SoC/Chip Architecture · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
29
|
Median days open
199 d
|
Median salary
$239k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (29 roles · 11 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 8 | 29 |
| Open roles in the wider Digital Design & Verification family | 420 | 3310 · 115 employers |
| Median days open | 200 d | 199 d (+1 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $239k |
Skills observed across this category: performance exploration, microarchitecture development, RTL design, microprocessor architecture, Verilog, low power microarchitecture techniques
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 8 open roles · median 199 d
- NVIDIA · 7 open roles · median 195 d
- SiFive · 3 open roles · median 196 d
- AMD · 2 open roles · median 196 d
- Infineon Technologies · 2 open roles · median 193 d
- Intel Corporation · 2 open roles · median 3 d
How we counted: 29 open SoC/Chip Architecture (AI ML Hardware) roles from 11 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 25 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 Digital Design & Verification family row. Figures refresh nightly.