Principal Engineer, ASIC Development Engineering (SoC Validation)

Company Description

Sandisk understands how people and businesses consume data and we relentlessly innovate to deliver solutions that enable today’s needs and tomorrow’s next big ideas. With a rich history of groundbreaking innovations in Flash and advanced memory technologies, our solutions have become the beating heart of the digital world we’re living in and that we have the power to shape.

Sandisk meets people and businesses at the intersection of their aspirations and the moment, enabling them to keep moving and pushing possibility forward. We do this through the balance of our powerhouse manufacturing capabilities and our industry-leading portfolio of products that are recognized globally for innovation, performance and quality.

Sandisk has two facilities recognized by the World Economic Forum as part of the Global Lighthouse Network for advanced 4IR innovations. These facilities were also recognized as Sustainability Lighthouses for breakthroughs in efficient operations. With our global reach, we ensure the global supply chain has access to the Flash memory it needs to keep our world moving forward.

Job Description

The SoC Development team is seeking a highly motivated SoC Validation Engineer to join a team of experienced engineers working on the development of advanced controller SoCs.

As a SoC Validation Engineer, you will be responsible for planning, architecting, and executing validation strategies to validate complex hardware in System-on-Chip (SoC) ASICs. Your work will enable industry-leading data storage control SoCs deployed into high-volume consumer and enterprise products.

The growing diversity of data creates an exponential number of new possibilities – for the world, our company, and you. You’ll be part of a team driving the innovations necessary to outpace new demands and challenges everywhere data lives, from sensors to mobile devices to the cloud. We’ve only started to scratch the surface of what data can do. You can help unlock its full potential.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Ownership: End-to-end ownership of one or more subsystems or SoC validation flows, including planning, execution, and closure.
• Leadership & Mentorship: Lead and mentor junior/mid-level engineers, review their test plans, debug approaches, and ensure coverage and closure goals are met.
• Validation Strategy & Sign-Off: Define SoC-level validation strategies, establish sign-off criteria (functional, performance, power, stress, and PVT coverage), and drive execution to closure across multiple teams.
• Pre-/Post-Silicon Validation: Strong experience in bring-up, including board initialisation, power-on sequences, processor boot, and system debug.
• Datapath Validation: Ability to understand and validate complex datapath flows of the controller, create datapath scenarios in SoC verification environment and port them across pre-silicon and post-silicon environments.
• Protocol Expertise: Validation experience with DDR, PCIe, LPDDR, USB, Ethernet, I²C, I3C, SPI, AXI, AHB, APB.
• Emulation Experience: Run complex SoC validation scenarios on Palladium/Emulation platforms to accelerate debug and pre-silicon coverage.
• Firmware & HAL Development: Develop firmware, bare-metal tests, and Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to enable datapath, integration, and SoC-level validation.
• Validation Infrastructure: Build and maintain validation infrastructure, including test content, regression automation, and lab equipment integration (oscilloscopes, analyzers, logic probes).
• Debug Expertise: Proficiency in debugging SoC issues across multiple domains (digital logic, firmware, timing, low-power, DFT) using JTAG, trace, waveform capture, and performance counters.
• Power & GLS Validation: Run and debug gate-level simulations, power-aware (UPF/CPF) validation, and validate ATE functional patterns.
• Performance & Stress Testing: Validate performance bottlenecks, traffic generation, and corner-case stress scenarios at the SoC level.

Qualifications

Required:

• BE or MS degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering, with 9–13 years of in SoC pre-/post-silicon validation and bring-up.
• Deep understanding of C, embedded programming, and hardware/software co-validation methodologies.
• Good understanding of SoC verification environments, SystemVerilog (SV), and UVM concepts.
• Proven history of developing and executing validation strategies for complex SoCs.

Skills:

• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Lead a team of validation engineers, review their test plans, debug approaches, and guide them toward coverage and closure goals.
• Validation Strategy & Sign-Off Ownership: Define SoC-level validation strategies, establish sign-off criteria (functional, performance, power, stress, PVT, etc.), and drive execution to closure across multiple teams.
• Ability to develop and execute validation plans at IP, subsystem, and SoC levels.
• Strong experience in pre-/post-silicon bring-up, including board initialization, power-on sequences, and processor boot.
• Prior experience in validation of DDR and PCIe protocols at both pre- and post-silicon stages.
• Knowledge of various interfaces and standards: PCIe, LPDDR, USB, Ethernet, I²C, I3C, SPI, etc.
• Strong understanding of bus protocols (AXI, AHB, APB) and interconnect fabrics.
• Ability to understand and validate complex datapath flows and system-level interactions in SoCs.
• Ability to create complex datapath scenarios in SoC verification environments and port them to both pre-silicon and post-silicon validation.
• Proficiency in ASIC verification simulation tools (simulation, emulation, and debug environments).
• Emulation Experience: Running simulations and system-level validation on Palladium/Emulation platforms for datapath and SoC scenarios.
• Firmware Development: Hands-on experience in developing firmware and bare-metal tests to validate datapath scenarios and SoC integration.
• HAL Development: Experience in Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) development to support SoC validation and software bring-up.
• Experience with validation infrastructure development: test content, regression automation, and lab equipment integration (oscilloscopes, analyzers, logic probes).
• Proficiency in debugging SoC issues using JTAG, trace, waveform capture, and performance counters.
• Experience with gate-level/power-aware validation correlation and ATE pattern bring-up.
• Familiarity with performance and stress testing, workload generation, and corner-case scenario validation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Ability to work closely with design, verification, firmware, and product engineering teams to reproduce and resolve system-level issues.
• Proficiency in programming/scripting languages such as Python, Perl, TCL, and Bash for automation.
• Methodology Development: Define and evolve validation methodology to improve efficiency, coverage, and test portability across projects.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated interest in ASICs, SoCs, storage controllers, flash memory, and semiconductor components.
• Strong team player, able to collaborate effectively across validation labs, design centers, and product engineering teams.

Additional Information

Sandisk thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution.

Sandisk is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at jobs.accommodations@sandisk.com to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying