Principle Hardware Design Engineer - Systems Engineering

Principle Hardware Design Engineer - Systems Engineering
Santa Clara, CA, Onsite
Full Time
Principal Hardware Design Engineer – Systems Engineering to join the Central Engineering business group in Santa Clara, CA. The selected candidate will contribute to advanced printed circuit board (PCB) engineering initiatives supporting Automotive, Storage, Security, and Networking product groups.
This role focuses heavily on high-speed signal integrity engineering, PCIe Gen5/Gen6 reference board design, power integrity analysis, validation board implementation, package collaboration, and cloud compute systems.
The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in high-speed PCB design, signal integrity analysis, SERDES technologies, PCIe protocols, power delivery systems, and board bring-up/debug activities within complex semiconductor environment.
Key Responsibilities
Hardware & PCB Design

• Design high-speed reference boards for PCIe Gen5/Gen6 chip validation
• Capture schematics and support PCB layout implementation
• Work with PCB layout vendors and external design teams
• Select and implement board-level power schemes
• Design and validate low-voltage, high-current multi-phase SMPS systems
• Support enterprise server reference systems using PCIe Gen5 CEM sockets and EDSFF

Signal Integrity & Power Integrity Engineering

• Establish Signal Integrity (SI) specifications and implementation guidelines
• Perform SI simulations and validation analysis
• Conduct Power Integrity (PI) simulations and analysis
• Analyze:
  • Transmission lines
  • Via structures
  • High-speed connectors
  • Complex BGA packages
• Collaborate with package design and SI engineering teams
• Support routing guidance for board layout teams

Validation & Debug Support

• Participate in board bring-up and chip debug activities
• Support programming of various memory devices
• Work closely with RTL teams to implement hardware features and interfaces
• Assist with design validation and hardware characterization

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with:
  • SI Engineers
  • RTL Teams
  • Package Design Teams
  • PCB Layout Vendors
  • External Customers
• Support customer implementations and reference designs
• Work with external vendors to resolve technical issues and complete board designs

Must-Have Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in:
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Related Engineering Field
• 5–10 years of related professional experience
  OR
• Master's Degree / PhD with 3–5 years of related experience
• Experience as Lead Signal Integrity Engineer
• Strong understanding of:
  • Electromagnetic (EM) fundamentals
  • High-speed PCB design
  • Signal Integrity concepts
  • Power Integrity concepts
• Experience with:
  • High-speed differential pair design
  • PCIe Gen4 / Gen5 / Gen6
  • PAM-4 technologies
  • SERDES analysis (25Gbps+)
  • Reference board design for chip validation
• Strong knowledge of PCB design issues associated with high-speed systems
• Experience with:
  • Power controller design
  • Multi-phase SMPS
  • Clock generation/distribution
  • Component selection
• Experience using SI/EM tools including:
  • Sigrity
  • SI Soft
  • HFSS
  • HSPICE
• Familiarity with:
  • Real-Time Scope
  • VBA
  • TDR
• Experience with schematic capture and PCB layout tools
  • Preferably Cadence Concept
• Strong communication and customer-facing skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with:
  • ADS
  • QSI/QDC
  • Hyperlynx
• Experience running and summarizing Power Integrity simulations
• Experience collaborating with characterization teams
• Familiarity with cloud compute systems
• Experience with mechanical design concepts
• Experience supporting package design activities
• Experience working in semiconductor or hyperscale infrastructure environments

Core Skills

• Signal Integrity (SI)
• Power Integrity (PI)
• High-Speed PCB Design
• PCIe Gen5 / Gen6
• SERDES
• PAM-4
• PCB Layout
• Reference Board Design
• EM Simulation
• HFSS
• HSPICE
• Sigrity
• SI Soft
• Power Delivery Systems
• Multi-Phase SMPS
• Cadence Concept
• TDR
• RTL Collaboration
• Hardware Validation
• Cloud Compute Systems
• Package Design
• High-Speed Differential Pair Design