Silicon Emulation Engineer

TL;DR

Silicon Emulation Engineer (Hardware Engineering): Developing and optimizing emulation platforms for high-performance custom silicon in autonomous driving systems with an accent on functional validation and software development acceleration. Focus on designing complex testbenches, implementing synthesizable transactors, and debugging hardware-software interactions to ensure maximum performance and reliability.

Location: Must be based in or able to work from Mountain View, California (Hybrid)

Salary: $175,000–$215,000 USD

Company

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company dedicated to building the world's most trusted driver to improve mobility and safety.

What you will do

• Collaborate with design, verification, and software teams to simulate future silicon designs on emulation platforms.
• Design, implement, and optimize emulation testbenches to balance performance and debug capabilities.
• Write end-to-end synthesizable transactors for interaction with emulated designs via software APIs and C-DPI.
• Triage and root-cause failures using waveforms, software logging, and custom emulation monitors.
• Assist with post-silicon bring-up, debug, and characterization.
• Build infrastructure for the emulation user base, including tools for automation, CI, and data analysis.

Requirements

• BS degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of silicon development experience.
• Experience with major hardware emulation platforms such as Palladium, Zebu, Veloce, Protium, or HAPS.
• Proficiency in emulation approaches like virtual prototyping, testbench acceleration, or hybrid emulation.
• Strong experience with SystemVerilog and design verification methodologies.
• Programming and scripting skills in C++, Python, or TCL for automation and debug flows.

Nice to have

• Experience with AXI/AMBA, PCIe, DRAM, and Ethernet interfaces.
• Knowledge of performance and power analysis techniques.
• Familiarity with post-silicon debug software like Trace32 or OpenOCD.
• Understanding of embedded systems, Linux internals, and firmware.

Culture & Benefits

• Discretionary annual bonus program.
• Equity incentive plan.
• Comprehensive company benefits program.
• Opportunity to work on one of the world’s highest performance automotive compute platforms.