CPU Performance Architect - Texas, Austin, United States
$122,440 - $172,860 USD yearly
Originally posted 11 August 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role involves developing and driving end-to-end CPU architecture specifications for highly optimized, modular, and scalable CPUs. The work focuses on evaluating feasibility tradeoffs, exploring new approaches, and defining novel architectures for CPU.
What you'll do
- Develop and drive end-to-end CPU architecture specifications based on hardware features and requirements.
- Define targets (performance, power, frequency, and area) and content (features) that meet CPU requirements.
- Invent, conceptualize, and specify architectural and microarchitecture features to deliver optimized CPU requirements.
- Model CPU performance and power, analyzing bottlenecks on workloads reflecting future usage.
- Develop tests, test plans, and testing infrastructure, perform functional modeling simulations, and analyze test results for benchmarking performance.
- Review, challenge, and influence cross-functional roadmaps and define technology targets for future CPUs.
What you'll need
- Bachelors in CS, EECS, ECE or related computing discipline with 3+ years' experience, or Master's with 2+ years' experience, or PhD.
- Experience with high performance micro-architecture techniques and research.
- Experience with CPU architecture and micro-architecture simulators, tracing technologies, and performance analysis.
- 6+ months experience or coursework with C++.
Nice to have
- PhD in CS, EECS, ECE, or related discipline.
- Internship or experience in a CPU design or verification role.
- Advanced skills with Object Oriented Programming (C++/STL).
Skills: CPU architecture specifications, microarchitecture techniques, performance, power, frequency, and area targets, functional modeling simulations, benchmarking performance
This role has been open 67 days — well below the 78-day median for SoC/Chip Architecture roles.
SoC/Chip Architecture · SOC Architecture
|
Open roles in category
474
|
Median days open
78 d
|
Median salary
$238k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Intel Corporation | All employers we track in this specialty (474 roles · 65 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 17 | 474 |
| Open roles in the wider Digital Design & Verification family | 87 | 3202 · 115 employers |
| Median days open | 45 d | 78 d (−33 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $238k |
Skills observed across this category: CPU architecture specifications, microarchitecture techniques, performance, power, frequency, and area targets, functional modeling simulations, benchmarking performance
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 75 open roles · median 85 d
- NVIDIA · 56 open roles · median 70 d
- Apple · 36 open roles · median 11 d
- AMD · 34 open roles · median 59 d
- Arm Holdings · 27 open roles · median 114 d
- Micron Technology · 22 open roles · median 106 d
How we counted: 474 open SoC/Chip Architecture (SOC Architecture) roles from 65 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 Digital Design & Verification family row. Figures refresh nightly.