Lead Vector Compute Architect
$250,000 - $350,000 USD yearly
About the role
The Lead Vector Compute Architect leads the architecture definition and technical direction for Bolt's GPUs. The role focuses on data parallel compute unit microarchitecture and performance modeling for graphics, HPC, and system management workloads.
What you'll do
- Define data parallel microarchitecture satisfying ISA constraints.
- Drive architecture tradeoff analysis for performance, power, area, bandwidth, latency, and scalability.
- Develop and review system architecture specifications, interface definitions, and microarchitecture requirements.
- Lead performance modeling, workload analysis, and bottleneck identification using C/C++/SystemC or similar modeling environments.
- Define memory hierarchy, coherency architecture, and cache structures.
- Support silicon bring-up, debug, performance tuning, and post-silicon optimization.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
- 6+ years of experience in modern data parallel microarchitecture, including workload characterization, performance modeling, out-of-order data dependency, and occupancy optimization.
- Experience with CPU/GPU/NPU architectures, NoC/interconnect architectures, cache coherency protocols (CHI/ACE/CXL), high-speed interfaces (PCIe, UCIe, Ethernet), or memory systems (DDR, LPDDR, HBM, GDDR).
- Strong knowledge of RTL development and verification methodologies.
- Experience with architecture modeling and performance analysis tools.
- Familiarity with firmware/software interaction in complex SoC systems.
Skills: vector compute, graphics processors, semiconductor startup, chip architecture, performance efficiency
More semiconductor jobs: SoC design jobs · Sunnyvale jobs
This role has been open 165 days — well above the 79-day median for SoC/Chip Architecture roles.
SoC/Chip Architecture · SOC Architecture
|
Open roles in category
485
|
Median days open
79 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$230k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Bolt Graphics | All employers we track in this specialty (485 roles · 67 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 8 | 485 |
| Open roles in the wider Digital Design & Verification family | 16 | 3525 · 120 employers |
| Median days open | 124 d | 79 d (+45 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $230k |
Skills observed across this category: vector compute, graphics processors, semiconductor startup, chip architecture, performance efficiency
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 78 open roles · median 88 d
- NVIDIA · 67 open roles · median 81 d
- AMD · 39 open roles · median 68 d
- Arm Holdings · 29 open roles · median 11 d
- Apple · 28 open roles · median 12 d
- Micron Technology · 20 open roles · median 111 d
How we counted: 485 open SoC/Chip Architecture (SOC Architecture) roles from 67 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 8 Nov 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.