Pre-Silicon SoC Validation - Technical Lead
Intel · Posted Oct 8
Semiconductor manufacturing, microprocessors, data center solutions, and artificial intelligence infrastructure
India, BangaloreFull-timeHybridLead/Staff12–20 years₹60.0L–₹95.0L yearly33 applicants
SemiconductorsHardwareArtificial IntelligenceCloud ComputingFoundry ServicesPublic Company
Full time
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About the role
Intel's SoC validation team defines and executes validation strategies across the full silicon lifecycle, covering architecture definition, pre-silicon planning, silicon power-on, post-silicon debug, stepping readiness, and PRQ quality convergence for complex server SoCs and disaggregated/multi-die architectures. The work spans security, coherency, memory, fabric, and cross-die validation, including hardware, firmware, and software interaction. This technical lead role drives end-to-end validation strategy, debug and root-cause of pre- and post-silicon failures, cross-functional milestone convergence, validation efficiency innovation, and mentoring of senior and mid-level engineers.
What you will do
- Define and drive end-to-end SoC validation strategy across the full lifecycle, including architecture definition, pre-silicon validation planning, RTL milestone readiness, silicon power-on preparation, post-silicon debug, stepping readiness, and PRQ quality convergence.
- Develop comprehensive validation plans, execution strategies, coverage goals, debug plans, and sign-off criteria aligned to program milestones and product quality targets.
- Drive validation of critical SoC flows across security, coherency, memory, fabric, IO, and cross-die interactions in disaggregated architectures.
- Validate complex hardware, firmware, and software interactions with specific focus on security handshakes, coherency protocols, cache and fabric ordering, access control, isolation, attestation, fuse/security policy behavior, and multi-die/domain interactions.
- Review architecture and microarchitecture specifications to identify validation gaps in security, coherency, shared-resource behavior, cross-die communication, firmware sequencing, and lifecycle readiness from pre-silicon through post-silicon execution.
- Drive debug of complex pre-silicon and post-silicon failures, identify root cause across RTL, firmware, microcode, platform software, validation content, security policy, coherency behavior, and system-level configuration.
- Partner with architecture, design, verification, firmware, post-silicon, security, coherency, platform, manufacturing, and program teams to ensure high-quality validation readiness, silicon bring-up efficiency, and timely closure of issues across product milestones.
- Use post-silicon sightings, customer issues, stepping feedback, defect trends, security observations, and coherency escapes to strengthen earlier validation strategies, improve coverage, and prevent repeated escapes across programs.
- Define validation quality metrics, execution dashboards, risk indicators, milestone readiness reports, and sign-off recommendations for leadership reviews.
- Drive innovation in validation efficiency, including automation, test grading, coverage-driven execution, AI/ML-assisted bug hunting, regression optimization, and shift-left methodologies.
- Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, build technical depth in the team, and contribute to reusable validation methodologies, collateral, and best practices across programs.
Skills used in this role
SystemVerilogUVMCC++PythonPerlRTLfirmwaremicrocodeAI/ML
What the employer is looking for
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, VLSI, Embedded Systems, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
- 12-20 years of relevant industry experience in pre-silicon validation, SoC validation, design verification, silicon validation, firmware validation, or hardware/software co-validation.
- Strong understanding of SoC architecture, microarchitecture, CPU/core integration, fabrics, memory subsystem, security, coherency, cache hierarchy, firmware-driven security flows, and disaggregated/multi-die architectures.
- Hands-on experience defining and executing validation strategies across the product lifecycle, including architecture review, pre-silicon planning, RTL milestone readiness, silicon power-on preparation, post-silicon sighting debug, stepping feedback, and PRQ quality convergence.
- Proven experience in developing validation plans, test strategies, debug methodologies, coverage closure plans, post-silicon feedback loops, and milestone sign-off criteria for complex SoCs and disaggregated silicon products.
- Deep knowledge of SoC architecture, system architecture, disaggregated and multi-die architecture, microarchitecture fundamentals, IP/subsystem integration, fabrics, memory hierarchy, and cross-die communication.
- Strong expertise in validation methodologies across the pre-silicon to post-silicon continuum, including test planning, content development, coverage closure, milestone readiness, silicon bring-up support, sighting reproduction, and lifecycle feedback loops.
- Strong technical depth in security validation, coherency validation, cache/fabric ordering, access-control flows, isolation mechanisms, firmware-authenticated flows, fuse/security policy behavior, and multi-domain system interactions.
- Strong debug skills using waveform analysis, logs, traces, checkers, assertions, firmware instrumentation, and platform-level debug tools.
- Experience with one or more programming or scripting languages such as C, C++, Python, Perl, SystemVerilog, UVM, or similar validation automation languages.
- Knowledge of firmware and microcode flows, manageability firmware, or other SoC firmware interactions.
- Understanding of validation quality metrics, functional coverage, test effectiveness, regression health, bug trends, and milestone readiness indicators.
- Operate as a senior technical leader who can independently define technical direction, influence stakeholders, and drive convergence across multiple teams.
- Lead cross-functional discussions with architecture, design, verification, firmware, post-silicon, platform, manufacturing, and program management teams.
- Identify program risks early, propose mitigation plans, and drive technical decision-making to protect milestone predictability and product quality.
- Communicate complex technical issues clearly through reviews, dashboards, status reports, debug summaries, and leadership updates.
- Mentor engineers, build validation capability within the organization, and help establish scalable processes for future SoC programs.
Preferred qualifications
- Prior Intel Xeon product validation experience across one or more server SoC generations, including pre-silicon planning, silicon power-on, post-silicon debug, stepping readiness, or PRQ quality convergence.
- Exposure to Cheetah-based validation methodologies, including validation environment integration, filelist/dependency setup, methodology quality checks, simulation build/run readiness, or SoC/IP integration collateral checks.
- Exposure to security, coherency, cache hierarchy, fabric, memory validation.
- Experience with lifecycle-driven validation improvements, including shift-left strategies, post-silicon sighting reproduction in pre-silicon environments, reusable validation content, formal-assisted validation, collateral consistency checks, and AI/ML-driven validation efficiency improvements.
- Prior experience driving A0/TI readiness, milestone sign-off, or post-silicon sighting reproduction in pre-silicon environments.
- Demonstrated ability to deliver results through ambiguity, influence without authority, and enable technical convergence across distributed teams.
Benefits and support
- Compensation and benefits are detailed in the job posting
About Intel
Intel Corporation is a global technology leader focused on the design and manufacturing of microprocessors, integrated circuits, and advanced data center infrastructure. The company drives innovation across personal computing, artificial intelligence, and cloud ecosystems while operating a major semiconductor foundry business. Intel delivers foundational silicon and packaging solutions that power modern digital infrastructure worldwide.
- Industry
- Semiconductors
- Company size
- 10001+ employees
- Founded
- 1968
- Location
- Santa Clara, California, USA
- Funding stage
- Public Company
Leadership
LT
Lip-Bu Tan
Chief Executive Officer
DZ
David Zinsner
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
PR
Pushkar Ranade
Chief Technology Officer and Chief of Staff to the CEO
NC
Naga Chandrasekaran
Executive Vice President – Chief Technology and Operations Officer, General Manager Intel Foundry
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