Senior System Validation Engineer

Are you looking for a unique opportunity to be a part of something great? Want to join a 20,000-member team that works on the technology that powers the world around us? Looking for an atmosphere of trust, empowerment, respect, diversity, and communication? How about an opportunity to own a piece of a multi-billion dollar (with a B!) global organization? We offer all that and more at Microchip Technology, Inc.
People come to work at Microchip because we help design the technology that runs the world. They stay because our culture supports their growth and stability. They are challenged and driven by an incredible array of products and solutions with unlimited career potential. Microchip’s nationally-recognized Leadership Passage Programs support career growth where we proudly enroll over a thousand people annually. We take pride in our commitment to employee development, values-based decision making, and strong sense of community, driven by our Vision, Mission, and 11 Guiding Values; we affectionately refer to it as the Aggregate System and it’s won us countless awards for diversity and workplace excellence.
Our company is built by dedicated team players who love to challenge the status quo; we did not achieve record revenue and over 30 years of quarterly profitability without a great team dedicated to empowering innovation. People like you.
Visit our careers page to see what exciting opportunities and company perks await!

Microchip’s Data Center Solutions Business Unit (DCS) delivers industry leading performance, reliability, and security in Storage Controllers, Memory Controllers, NVMe SSD Controllers, PCIe Switches and SAS Expanders that are applied in Cloud Storage and Compute Data Centers, and Storage Area Networks.
As a Senior System Validation Engineer, you will join a group of world class talented system integrators responsible for the bring-up, integration and validation of cutting-edge System on a Chip (SoC) products for the Data Center Solutions Business Unit.
A Validation Engineer is responsible for designing and building infrastructure that is required to integrate and validate the SoC for its intended use models. This involves building the entire prototype ecosystem like boards, FPGAs, FW, Software and Automation suites. And then further integrating this environment with internally developed test equipment, protocol analyzers, exercisers and x86 based HW.
A Validation Engineer develops a comprehensive test plan by utilizing design specifications, marketing requirements and newly drafted standards including PCIe, CXL, DDR4/5, NVMe, SAS, SATA, NAND flash and other standards commonly used in Cloud Data and Compute Centers or Storage Area Networks. Using validation infrastructure and the test plan, a validation engineer develops and executes pre- and post-silicon tests that fully exercise the prototype SoC and embedded FW.
The primary skill of Validation Engineers is to develop and integrate complex systems, test, debug, and problem solve. On the job you will gain intimate understanding of relevant protocol specifications, IP design and become expert in SOCs design/architecture, isolating problems, and finding solutions. The job provides excellent opportunity to grow domain knowledge and become an expert in these leading-edge fields.
The validation work environment offers opportunity to interact closely with other groups like design, FW, pre-silicon emulation, verification, applications, and have a prospect for job rotation or transfers within the company.
Responsibilities Include But Are Not Limited To

• Learning and dynamically applying knowledge of the device, system, protocols, and industry standards.
• Finding and reporting bugs. Working with cross expertise teams and leading efforts to isolate, investigate and solve them.
• Developing block, subsystem and system level test FW and scripts, and further integrating them in to best-in-class test automation suites.
• Develop, execute, and document a series of feature tests that will fully validate the operation of the SoC and its various functional HW blocks and FW to ensure all components and the overall SoC is functioning per design specs, achieves expected performance and meets industry requirements and standards.
• Building and maintaining validation infrastructure through the development of boards, FPGAs, embedded software, device drivers and test bench scripts.
• Help grow and train the validation team.
• Running complex tests and conducting investigations in a lab environment on-site and remotely.
• Integrating prototype SOC HW and FW into a complete solution. This includes working with emulation platforms, proto-ICs, validation boards, FW and SW to bring an entire system level solution to life and enable functional testing and FW development.
• Leading activities in area of technical expertise.
• Effectively presenting technical information to internal and external groups.
• Working with pre-silicon FGPA based emulation platforms and prototype (post-silicon) ICs/SOCs.

The role and responsibilities will grow with the individual candidate’s skills and interests.
Requirements/Qualifications

• Experience working in lab environment and knowledge of relevant test equipment and protocol analyzers.
• Hands-on hardware experience with x86 based systems
• Ability to quickly learn new technologies, protocols, and standards
• Strong knowledge of digital system and computer architecture
• Demonstrate expertise in specific validation subject areas.
• Strong communications and interpersonal skills
• Ability to develop and execute functional validation plans and necessary validation software and scripts with minimum supervision.
• Experience working with prototype ICs, boards and HW infrastructure
• Demonstrated strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Knowledge of PCIe system architecture and protocol is an asset as an ability to read and analyze PCIe protocol traces.
• Familiarity with CXL, PCIe, DDR, I2C, SPI protocols is an asset.
• Experience in IC and SoC validation
• Experience working with prototype boards, boards modifications and reading schematics.
• 5+ years of relevant industry experience. More junior applicants will be considered for other levels.
• Experience in defining comprehensive test coverage at sub-block and system level utilizing design specification, feature requirements and industry standards
• Experience working in Linux and Windows based OS environments.
• Experience in debug and investigation of SoC’s using FW and MIPS debug environment
• Team player working well with peers and cross functional groups.
• Strong knowledge of Data Communication and Digital Design theory
• Thorough knowledge of circuit theory and high-speed signal fundamentals
• SoC performance validation and performance tuning experience is an asset
• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or Computer Science
• Comfortable working with developing specs and standards.
• Strong knowledge of scripting language such as Python or Tcl/Tk, proficiency in C/C++ programming

Desired Qualification

• Knowledge of FPGA layout tools and VHDL/Verilog coding
• Familiarity with PCIe and CXL Compliance testing is an asset
• Threadx or RTOS knowledge
• Familiarity with FPGA based emulation environments - deployment of test coverage for pre-silicon test is an asset
• Experience in high-speed digital designs, boards designs, PCB layouts, signal integrity concepts and manufacturing process is an asset.
• Working knowledge of protocols like : PCIe, CXL, DDR, NVMe, ONFI, SAS, SATA I2C, SPI and protocols traces debugging
• Experience testing and debugging high-speed SERDES
• Linux or Windows host drivers development
• Experience developing and debugging MIPS based architecture. Programming FW in C/C++
• In depth Linux OS architecture and drivers knowledge

Travel Time
0% - 25%