Ambiq Micro, Inc.

Sr. Director - SoC Front End Engineering

Austin, Texas, United States · Director

Work authorization requiredDetected 109 days ago

Machine LearningVerilogMedical DevicesResearchLeadershipCommunicationCollaboration

About the role

If that's you, join us - the intelligence everywhere revolution starts here.
This role will be on-site 5 days a week in NW Austin.
The ideal candidate combines deep technical acumen with people leadership excellence and has a proven record of bringing advanced SoCs from architecture to production.

Own and drive the front-end design of Ambiq's Edge AI MCU platforms - including CPU subsystems, neural accelerators, security, memory, and peripheral integration.
Lead architecture definition, RTL design, and subsystem integration focused on power-optimized AI compute and real-time performance.
Develop and enforce world-class design methodologies across RTL, verification (UVM), and static checks (lint, CDC, DFT readiness).
Partner with Architecture and Physical Design teams to ensure seamless PPA optimization and first-silicon success.
Evaluate and deploy next-generation EDA tools, design automation, and verification infrastructure to accelerate tapeout readiness.
Drive design execution for multiple MCU programs concurrently, from concept through production tapeout.
Establish design review frameworks and sign-off criteria ensuring predictable, high-quality execution.
Lead and grow a team of front-end engineers across design, verification, and integration disciplines.
Build a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, and accountability.
Mentor senior technical staff and create clear pathways for career growth and technical leadership.

20+ years of experience in semiconductor front-end design and verification, with 15 + years in a leadership capacity managing multi-disciplinary teams.
Proven track record of delivering MCU, SoC, or ASIC products into high-volume production.
Familiarity with ARM Cortex-M/R/A or RISC-V architectures and on-chip interconnects (AHB/AXI).
Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer.
Required
Expertise in low-power digital design, including multi-voltage domains, power gating, and clock management.
Strong hands-on understanding of SystemVerilog, UVM, and synthesis/STA methodologies.
Excellent communication and leadership skills
proven ability to lead complex, cross-site teams.
Education: BS/MS in Electrical or Computer Engineering required
Preferred
What Success Looks Like

Experience with subthreshold or near-threshold design techniques and power modeling.
Knowledge of EDA flows at advanced process nodes (16nm and below).
First-pass silicon success across multiple Edge AI MCU programs.
Market-leading metrics enabling industry-best energy efficiency.
A cohesive, motivated team operating at high technical and cultural standards.
Ph.D. preferred.

Partner with Product Management to translate application requirements (vision, voice, sensing) into silicon-level specifications.

Ambiq is on a mission to enable intelligence everywhere - powering the AI edge revolution with the world's lowest-power semiconductor solutions.
We're looking for self-motivated, creative problem-solvers who are eager to push technological limits and make a real impact in energy efficiency.

This listing is sourced directly from Ambiq Micro, Inc.'s careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.