Principal RTL Design Engineer

The era of pervasive AI has arrived. In this era, organizations will use generative AI to unlock hidden value in their data, accelerate processes, reduce costs, drive efficiency and innovation to fundamentally transform their businesses and operations at scale.

SambaNova Suite™ is the first full-stack, generative AI platform, from chip to model, optimized for enterprise and government organizations. Powered by the intelligent SN40L chip, the SambaNova Suite is a fully integrated platform, delivered on-premises or in the cloud, combined with state-of-the-art open-source models that can be easily and securely fine-tuned using customer data for greater accuracy. Once adapted with customer data, customers retain model ownership in perpetuity, so they can turn generative AI into one of their most valuable assets.

About the team

The RTL design team builds the compute datapath, on-chip network, and memory subsystems inside SambaNova's RDU AI accelerator. Their work spans microarchitecture through tape-out, including RTL implementation, PPA trade-offs, quality gates like lint, CDC, and LEC, and timing closure with physical design.

About the role

SambaNova Systems is looking for a Principal RTL Design Engineer to own the microarchitecture and RTL for a major block or subsystem of our next-generation Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit, the silicon behind our AI workload acceleration systems.

This is a senior individual-contributor role with real ownership. You'll take a block from microarchitecture specification through RTL, quality closure, and tape-out, and you'll own the power, performance, and area trade-offs along the way. Frequency targets here are aggressive, so the microarchitectural choices you make (how you pipeline a datapath, where you spend area to buy timing) are the substance of the job, not an afterthought.

You'll work alongside architects, design verification, and physical design engineers to converge functionality and timing, and with software and compiler teams to prototype features that move application-level performance. You'll be one of the engineers who sets the technical bar for digital design here: in reviews, in the methodology the team adopts, and in how the design flow evolves.

Responsibilities

Some of your responsibilities will include:

Own microarchitecture and RTL implementation for a major block or subsystem of the RDU, from specification through tape-out

Define and document microarchitecture specifications for complex digital blocks in compute, memory, or on-chip network subsystems

Write, integrate, and debug synthesizable SystemVerilog RTL through the full chip implementation and production lifecycle

Hit aggressive frequency targets through datapath pipelining, retiming, and microarchitectural restructuring

Own PPA for your area: make and defend the power, performance, and area trade-offs using advanced techniques for high-speed design

Drive timing closure with physical design: synthesis, STA, critical-path iteration, and response to floorplan and congestion feedback

Own design quality gates for your area: lint, CDC, LEC, and SystemVerilog Assertions capturing design intent

Partner with design verification to define verification intent and coverage for your block, and support debug of functional and gate-level failures

Work with architects and software teams to prototype and evaluate features that improve application-level performance

Drive AI, automation, and new EDA tool methodologies into the design flow

Set the technical bar in design reviews and mentor design engineers

Required qualifications

BS or MS in EE, CE, or CS with 7+ years (or equivalent) of industry experience in ASIC RTL design

Mastery of synthesizable SystemVerilog for high-speed, high-performance ASICs, including SVA to capture design intent

High-frequency design experience: datapath pipelining, retiming, critical-path restructuring, and other microarchitectural techniques for hitting aggressive frequency targets

Deep foundation in computer architecture and digital logic design: arbitration, flow control, clock domain crossing, and memory structures

Ownership of a complex block or subsystem from microarchitecture specification through tape-out on at least one production ASIC

Physical-design awareness: converging power, performance, and area against real physical constraints, including floorplan, congestion, and timing feedback from the physical design team

Hands-on experience with synthesis and static timing analysis, and with lint, CDC, and LEC quality flows

Demonstrated technical leadership without formal authority: setting direction in design reviews, arbitrating microarchitecture decisions, and mentoring engineers

Scripting in Python for design and flow automation

Preferred qualifications

Depth in one RDU domain: compute and dataflow datapath, on-chip network and interconnect, or memory subsystem

Industry-standard interconnects and protocols: AXI, PCIe, Ethernet, HBM/DDR

AI and ML workload acceleration techniques, and dataflow or reconfigurable architectures

Formal property checking applied to design intent

Advanced TSMC nodes and multi-die or chiplet design

Performance modeling and analysis to support architectural trade-offs

Fluency with Claude or other AI tools applied to RTL design and flow development

MS or PhD in EE, CE, or CS with 10+ years of experience in ASIC RTL design

Base Salary Range:

Base Pay Range

$180,000 — $255,000 USD

• Submission Guidelines
• Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at SambaNova Systems, you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified.

• EEO Policy
• SambaNova Systems is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

• Benefits Summary for US-Based, Full-Time Employment Positions
• SambaNova offers a competitive total rewards package, including the base salary, plus equity and benefits. We cover 95% premium coverage for employee medical insurance, and 77% premium coverage for dependents and offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution. We also offer Dental, Vision, Short/Long term Disability, Basic Life, Voluntary Life, and AD&D insurance plans in addition to Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options like Health Care, Limited Purpose, and Dependent Care. Our library of well-being benefits available to you and your dependents includes a full subscription to Headspace, Gympass+ membership with access to physical gyms, One Medical membership, counseling services with an Employee Assistance Program, and much more.