RISC-V Security Architect - Santa Clara, California, United States of America
$243,200 - $364,800 USD yearly
Originally posted 23 September 2026 by the employer.
This role focuses on RISC-V security extensions.
About the role
This role involves defining security-related RISC-V extensions and their implementation within CPU cores and across SoCs. The work centers on Confidential Compute Architecture for RISC-V-based CPUs and SoCs.
What you'll do
- Establish system security requirements for RISC-V-based CPUs and SoCs.
- Participate in RISC-V architecture standards development, including RISC-V security extensions.
- Specify and review the architecture and implementation of CPU/SoC level security mechanisms.
- Perform competitive analysis of security systems and features.
- Explore future and roadmap server security-related technologies.
What you'll need
- 10 years industry experience in Security and RISC-V encompassing architecture and design.
- 10 years industry experience in high-performance CPU and system design.
- Demonstrated expertise in Security Technologies.
- Proficient in Confidential Compute Architecture.
- Understanding of Security Software Architectures.
- Strong capabilities in creating and presenting architecture-level documentation.
Nice to have
- Leadership and management experience at the project level.
Skills: Security Architecture, RISC-V, Confidential Compute Architecture, CPU/SoC level security mechanisms, security extensions
This role has been open 9 days — well below the 57-day median for Hardware Security Engineering roles.
Hardware Security Engineering · Hardware Security
|
Open roles in category
179
|
Median days open
57 d
|
Median salary
$233k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (179 roles · 47 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 19 | 179 |
| Median days open | 107 d | 57 d (+50 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $233k |
Skills observed across this category: Security Architecture, RISC-V, Confidential Compute Architecture, CPU/SoC level security mechanisms, security extensions
Who's hiring in this category
- NVIDIA · 27 open roles · median 23 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 26 open roles · median 83 d
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 19 open roles · median 107 d
- Arm Holdings · 13 open roles · median 87 d
- AMD · 11 open roles · median 36 d
- STMicroelectronics · 8 open roles · median 14 d
How we counted: 179 open Hardware Security Engineering (Hardware Security) roles from 47 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 3 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. Figures refresh nightly.