Samsung Semiconductor
Senior Engineer, Architecture & Performance Research Engineer for Data Center and Agentic AI CPU
San Jose, California, United States · Senior
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About the role
- Please Note: To provide the best candidate experience amidst our high application volumes, each candidate is limited to 10 applications across all open jobs within a 6-month period.
- Advancing the World's Technology Together Our technology solutions power the tools you use every day--including smartphones, electric vehicles, hyperscale data centers, IoT devices, and so much more.
- We believe innovation and growth are driven by an inclusive culture and a diverse workforce.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with Staff and Principal Engineers, owning a specific microarchitectural domain from idea proposal through implementation and validation
- Participate in design implementation and validation using AI-driven design methodologies
- Develop scripts and tools to automate and accelerate performance analysis and architectural exploration
- We explore new architectural ideas, evaluate their performance potential, and rapidly turn promising concepts into working designs that can be validated on real silicon.
- We also explore CPU-memory co-design from the CPU perspective, in alignment with the broader shift toward memory-centric architectures.
- We develop and apply AI-driven methodologies to accelerate architectural exploration, broaden the design space we can investigate, and quickly iterate from ideas to implementation and silicon validation.
- Rather than simply following established design flows, we continuously seek new ways to explore, evaluate, and realize CPU architectures.
- The role offers an opportunity to work across the full spectrum of architecture research-from workload and performance analysis, microarchitectural innovation, and architectural modeling to implementation and silicon validation-while helping shape new methodologies for how future CPUs are designed.
- As a Senior CPU Architecture & Performance Engineer, you will drive both microarchitectural research and performance modeling for next-generation CPU architectures.
- You will analyze emerging workloads, develop and refine performance models, identify architectural opportunities, and turn quantitative insights into new microarchitectural concepts.
Requirements
- 3+ years of experience or PhD degree in Computer Architecture, Computer Engineering, or a related field
- 1+ years of experience in CPU microarchitecture or performance engineering
- Strong understanding of out-of-order execution, branch prediction, pipelines, speculation, and cache/memory systems
- Hands-on experience with architectural simulators such as gem5
- Proficiency in C/C++ and Python
Nice to have
- Experience with RISC-V, ARM, or x86 CPU cores, or with GPU/NPU vector unit design
- Experience with or interest in AI-driven or agentic design workflows
- Understanding of execution patterns and characteristics of agentic AI workloads
- Domain-specific experience in the front-end, mid-end, or back-end areas described above
- Experience with PPA trade-off analysis
- Experience with CPU tape-out or silicon validation
- Experience with patents or technical publications related to CPU
- You're inclusive, adapting your style to the situation and diverse global norms of our people.
Skills
- Advancing the World's Technology Together
- Senior Engineer, Architecture & Performance Research Engineer for Data Center and Agentic AI CPU
Compensation
- $138,000 - $206,000 USD
Benefits
- This is in addition to our diverse package of benefits centered around the wellbeing of our employees and their loved ones.
- In addition to the usual Medical/Dental/Vision/401k, our inclusive rewards plan empowers our people to care for their whole selves.
- Enjoy Time Away You'll start with 4+ weeks of paid time off a year, plus holidays and sick leave, to rest and recharge.
- Care for Family Whatever family means to you, we want to support you along the way-including a stipend for fertility care or adoption, medical travel support, and virtual vet care for your fur babies.
- Prioritize Emotional Wellness With on-demand apps and free confidential therapy sessions, you'll have support no matter where you are.
- Embrace Flexibility Benefits are best when you have the space to use them.
- That's why we facilitate a flexible environment so you can find the right balance for you.
- Our onsite Café and gym, plus virtual classes, make it easier.
Company info
- Our Commitment to Innovation and Fairness At Samsung Semiconductor, we use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the recruitment process to enhance efficiency.
Equal opportunity
- Employment Policy
- Samsung Semiconductor takes pride in being an equal opportunity workplace dedicated to fostering an environment where all individuals feel valued and empowered to excel, regardless of race, religion, color, age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ancestry, genetic information, marital status, national origin, political affiliation, or veteran status.
- When selecting team members, we prioritize talent and qualities such as humility, kindness, and dedication.
- We extend comprehensive accommodations throughout our recruiting processes for candidates with disabilities, long-term conditions, neurodivergent individuals, or those requiring pregnancy-related support.
This listing is sourced directly from Samsung Semiconductor's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.