Virtual Platform Architect
$147,000 - $220,000 USD yearly
About the role
As a Virtual Platform Architect, you will strategically deliver virtual platform prototypes that enable internal teams to support software development and architecture analysis. You will evaluate complex requirements across performance, interoperability, and ecosystem needs to ensure timely, well-tuned SoC and CPU designs.
What you'll do
- Deliver virtual platform prototypes to internal teams for software development and architecture analysis.
- Develop functional models of hardware in C++ or SystemC.
- Create and maintain technical documents, including platform specifications and user guides.
- Collaborate with the team from product roadmap planning through design implementation.
- Help develop, deploy, and run firmware and software on virtual platform models for future products.
- Develop automated systems and visualization tools to assist in software testing, debug, and analysis.
What you'll need
- 3+ years of proven SoC / CPU architect experience.
- Experience modeling computer systems using C++, SystemC, and Python, along with general programming and debugging abilities.
- Understanding of computer architecture principles, including virtual memory, pipelining, bus protocols, and multi-processing.
- Understanding of computer systems' performance principles, such as Amdahl’s Law, Queuing Theory, and mean value analysis.
- Experience with software development methods including revision control, continuous integration, and unit testing.
- Experience developing virtual platform or fast functional simulation models.
- BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science with 5 years of related experience, MS with 3 years, or PhD with 0 years.
Skills: virtual platform, SoC / CPU Architect, C++, SystemC, computer architecture principles
More semiconductor jobs: SoC design jobs · Santa Clara jobs
This role has been open 65 days — well below 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 | Ampere Computing | All employers we track in this specialty (485 roles · 67 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 13 | 485 |
| Open roles in the wider Digital Design & Verification family | 26 | 3525 · 120 employers |
| Median days open | 24 d | 79 d (−55 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $230k |
Skills observed across this category: virtual platform, SoC / CPU Architect, C++, SystemC, computer architecture principles
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.