AI Hardware Director

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AI Hardware Director

| Job Category | Tesla AI | | Location | Bengaluru, Karnataka | | Req. ID | 266253 | | Job Type | Full-time |

What to Expect

Tesla is rapidly scaling its AI Hardware team in Bengaluru to design and verify next-generation custom silicon for accelerating machine learning workloads. These chips power Full Self-Driving (FSD), the Optimus humanoid robot, and Dojo supercomputing systems.

As the DV Site Lead in India, you will build and lead the Design Verification function for our growing Bengaluru site. You will own pre-silicon verification strategy for complex SoCs, drive high-quality tape-outs, mentor a team of DV engineers, and collaborate closely with global teams in Palo Alto and Austin. This is a foundational leadership role to establish Tesla’s first dedicated DV site in India, ensuring seamless integration with the global AI silicon roadmap.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and Scale the Site: Build, mentor, and grow the DV team in Bengaluru (from individual contributors to a high-performing site). Hire top talent, set technical direction, and establish best practices for UVM-based verification.
• Own Verification Strategy: Architect and drive metric-driven, reusable SOC-level verification environments for AI accelerators, including block, subsystem, and full-chip verification.
• Technical Ownership:
• Develop coverage-driven verification plans from architecture specifications.
• Architect highly reusable UVM testbenches, integrate complex VIPs (e.g., for NOC, PCIe, AXI, DDR, coherency), and achieve sign-off coverage targets.
• Verify key SoC features: CPU/GPU integration, coherency protocols, memory subsystems, boot sequences, power/UPF, reset, HW/FW co-verification, and security.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with global RTL Design, Architecture, DFT, Emulation, Software/Firmware, and Post-Silicon teams to close verification gaps efficiently.
• Emulation & Post-Silicon: Drive emulation (Palladium/Zebu) flows and support silicon bring-up/validation.
• Process & Innovation: Improve verification methodologies, leverage AI-assisted tools, and ensure first-pass silicon success for Tesla’s cutting-edge AI chips.
• Site Leadership: Represent the Bengaluru DV team in global technical reviews, roadmap planning, and resource allocation. Drive knowledge transfer and alignment with US-based leads.

What You’ll Bring

• Experience: 12+ years in ASIC/SoC Design Verification, with at least 4+ years in a technical leadership role (Lead/Manager/Architect) for complex multi-core SoCs or AI/GPU-like designs.

• Expertise:

• Deep hands-on experience with UVM/SystemVerilog, constrained-random verification, coverage closure, and assertion-based verification.

• Strong background in SOC architecture: coherency, interconnects (AXI/AHB/NOC), high-speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR), memory controllers, multi-processor systems, and power management.

• Experience with CPU/GPU integration, emulation platforms, and post-silicon bring-up.

• Proficiency in scripting (Python, Perl, Tcl) and C/C++ for test development.

• Leadership: Proven track record of building and leading DV teams, delivering multiple tape-outs, and mentoring engineers. Ability to attract and retain top semiconductor talent in India.

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).

• Nice-to-Haves:

• Prior experience on AI accelerators, NPUs, or high-performance computing chips.

• Familiarity with formal verification, low-power verification (UPF), or security verification.

• Experience working in global, distributed teams (US-India collaboration)

• Tesla is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor, including veteran status and disability status, protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

• Tesla is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.

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