Principal Hardware ASIC Architect engineer

Job Description Job Title: Principal Hardware ASIC Architect Engineer Hyderabad, India About the Role We are seeking an experienced Hardware Architect with strong expertise in SOC-architecture, Micro-architecture design, RTL coding and system-level performance/power analysis. The ideal candidate will have a track record of owning complex blocks or subsystems from concept through silicon, balancing performance, power, and area (PPA), and working closely with software, asic-design, asic-verification, asic-physicaldesign teams. it requires deep architectural insight and hands-on implementation understanding to help guide design trade-offs and drive the next generation of AI inference accelerators. This is what you are responsible for Architecture & Micro-Architecture Define product feature and capabilities and own the architecture for compute, memory, interconnect & high-speed interface subsystems in the AI inference chip. Collaborate with various software teams to co-optimize hardware features for AI workloads. Collaborate with RTL designers to identify complex technical issues/risks. Review and guide RTL implementation, ensuring consistency with architectural intent and timing/power goals Collaborate with Physical-design teams for Area/Floorplan refinement, Timing targets etc. Define and document interface specifications, control/status logic, and pipeline structures. Lead PPA analysis and trade-off discussions across RTL and architecture. AI Workloads & HW-SW Co-Design Collaborate closely with various software to co-optimize hardware features for real-world AI inference workloads. Incorporate considerations such as, quantization, sparsity, dataflow, scheduling, memory bandwidth into architectural decisions. Guide hardware features that improve programmability, debuggability, and long-term software scalability. Modelling & Analysis Develop and maintain high-level architecture and performance models. Use simulation and architectural models to guide RTL-level improvements. Validate model predictions against RTL or emulation results and refine accordingly. Strong understanding of AI inference workloads, dataflows, quantization, and memory/bandwidth bottlenecks in edge deployments Necessary Qualifications: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field. 12+ years of experience in SOC design, SOC architecture, RTL design, micro-architecture. Strong understanding of computer architecture, memory hierarchies, SoC interconnects, and AI/ML compute architectures. Proven experience optimizing for performance, power, and area. Hands-on expertise in Verilog/SystemVerilog, C/C++, and scripting (Python/Tcl/Perl) Preferred Qualifications: Experience with AI accelerators, DSPs, or high-performance CPUs/GPUs. Familiarity with performance modeling frameworks (e.g., Python/C++ based). Exposure to EDA tools, power/performance analysis, and hardware-software co-design. Strong analytical skills and a collaborative mindset. More information about NXP in India... #LI-2734 NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) enables a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through innovation. As the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is pushing boundaries in the automotive, industrial & IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. For more information, visit www.nxp.com Bright Minds. Bright Futures. We believe that a key component to growing our business is to develop our people. To enable you to grow your career at NXP, we offer online and offline learning opportunities to help you develop some of your core and professional skills. Commitment At NXP. We recognize NXP is a powerful change agent as we continue to deliver innovative solutions that advance a more sustainable future. We remain steadfast in our commitment to sustainability and making measurable year-on-year progress. Also, we aim to create an inclusive work environment and we will not tolerate racism, discrimination or harassment of any kind. We have programs in place focused on diversity, inclusion and equality. Thank you for considering a career at NXP. To help you prepare for the different steps in our hiring process, see the following useful advice and tips. Are you already an NXP employee? Do not apply here. Instead, you must apply via our internal career page. Thank you for your interest in supporting our recruitment efforts. Please note that NXP operates under a strict Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for all recruitment activities. Any candidate profiles or resume submitted without a prior written agreement or explicit request from our Talent Acquisition team will be considered unsolicited. Such submissions will be deemed free of any obligations, and no fees will be paid by NXP or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or divisions - regardless of whether the candidate is hired, either coincidentally or otherwise. Thank you for your understanding.