SoC Architect, Customer Engineering - CA, San Jose, United States
Originally posted 28 April 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As a SoC Architect within the Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group, you will define and drive system-level solutions and platform architectures for embedded customer engagements. The role covers heterogeneous hardware and software environments across CPUs, APUs, GPUs, and FPGAs.
What you'll do
- Research, define, and drive system-level solutions for target market segments including Networking, Security, Storage, Automotive, Robotics, Industrial, and Aerospace/Defense. - Serve as the overall systems engineer for strategic customer accounts, performing gap analysis and architecting solutions for pre-design win engagements. - Translate customer requirements into technical specifications across silicon, platform hardware, firmware, and software domains. - Lead triage, investigation, and root-cause analysis for system-level issues involving CPU silicon, platform hardware, firmware, drivers, and OS/hypervisor interactions. - Build proof-of-concepts, demos, reference designs, and use-case optimizations in collaboration with ecosystem partners. - Author technical papers, reference solutions, and application notes for internal, NDA, or public audiences.
What you'll need
- Engineering degree in EE or CS. - Technical background in CPU and SoC architecture, including x86 processor architecture, RAS features, security features, and micro-architecture. - Architecture and protocol-level debug expertise in high-speed I/O interfaces, including PCIe (Gen 4/5/6), CXL, DDR4/DDR5, Ethernet, USB, and low-speed buses (I2C, SPI, I3C, eSPI). - Hands-on development experience with CPUs, GPUs, or FPGAs, along with system-level drivers (BSP, HAL, kernel), middleware, and firmware/BIOS (UEFI, Coreboot). - Deep knowledge of Linux OS, drivers, systems programming, virtualization, and hypervisors. - Strong C/C++ development and scripting skills (Python).
Nice to have
- Experience with embedded frameworks such as DPDK and SPDK. - Hardware platform development experience including signal integrity and power integrity. - AI/Deep Learning experience.
Skills: x86 architecture, computer architecture, embedded applications, system-level drivers, Linux OS, virtualization
This role has been open 177 days — well above the 79-day median for SoC/Chip Architecture roles.
SoC/Chip Architecture · SOC Architecture
|
Open roles in category
477
|
Median days open
79 d
|
Median salary
$239k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | AMD | All employers we track in this specialty (477 roles · 67 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 36 | 477 |
| Open roles in the wider Digital Design & Verification family | 251 | 3328 · 115 employers |
| Median days open | 74 d | 79 d (−5 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $239k |
Skills observed across this category: x86 architecture, computer architecture, embedded applications, system-level drivers, Linux OS, virtualization
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 80 open roles · median 83 d
- NVIDIA · 56 open roles · median 67 d
- Apple · 37 open roles · median 17 d
- AMD (this employer) · 36 open roles · median 74 d
- Arm Holdings · 27 open roles · median 122 d
- Micron Technology · 21 open roles · median 101 d
How we counted: 477 open SoC/Chip Architecture (SOC Architecture) roles from 67 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.