Chip Simulation Software Engineer

About this role

Etched seeks a chip simulation software engineer to design and develop accurate hardware simulations for custom AI inference chips. You'll enable hardware-software co-design by creating simulation tools, test plans, and debugging capabilities while collaborating closely with hardware and software teams.

What you'll do

• Design, develop, and maintain hardware simulations with high accuracy and optimal performance
• Influence architectural decisions through design review and hardware-software co-design collaboration
• Create and maintain test plans while validating hardware team documentation
• Build debugging tools and infrastructure for simulation and software development
• Integrate simulated chips with host systems and validate multi-chip software approaches
• Work closely with software teams to debug early software deliverables

What they're looking for

• C/C++ programming
• Low-level software engineering
• Hardware engineering fundamentals
• Hardware/system simulation (SystemC, gem5, QEMU)
• Firmware and kernel development
• Performance profiling and optimization
• Python and build tools (Bazel, Git)
• Multiprocessing and multithreading

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage with generous premiums ($500/month waiver credit)
• $2k monthly housing subsidy for those near office
• Relocation support to San Jose
• Daily lunch and dinner provided
• Wellness benefits covering fitness and mental health
• Unlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification

Likely interview questions

• Walk us through your experience with hardware simulation frameworks like SystemC, gem5, or QEMU. How did you approach accuracy, debugging, and performance optimization?
• Describe a time you worked on hardware-software co-design. How did you influence architectural decisions based on simulation or software insights?