CPU RTL Engineer

Job Description

### About Velaura

Velaura is building the next generation of compute platforms for Physical AI.

As AI moves beyond the datacenter into robots, autonomous mobile systems, drones, and other embodied systems, traditional compute architectures are increasingly constrained by power, memory bandwidth, latency, real-time requirements, and functional safety considerations.

Our mission is to develop the foundational compute technologies that enable intelligent systems to operate efficiently in the physical world.

We are assembling a team of exceptional architects and engineers to rethink how AI, sensing, memory, and control interact within a modern computing platform.

### Role Overview

We are looking for a CPU RTL Engineer to help build Velaura's next-generation Physical AI SoC.

In this role, you will work closely with architects, performance modelers, software engineers, verification engineers, and physical design teams to transform innovative architectural concepts into production silicon. You will own significant portions of the CPU and control-processor design, drive microarchitectural decisions, and help deliver high-performance, power-efficient hardware that enables the next generation of intelligent physical systems.

### Responsibilities

* Own the design, implementation, and optimization of RTL for CPU cores, control processors, and associated subsystems of the Velaura SoC.
* Collaborate with architects to develop robust and efficient core microarchitectures --- pipelines, branch prediction, load/store units, and cache interfaces --- and drive microarchitectural decisions within your areas of ownership.
* Design for high-speed operation: aggressive pipelining, critical-path analysis, timing closure collaboration with physical design, and frequency-aware microarchitecture.
* Design for low power: clock gating, power gating, DVFS support, retention strategies, and power-aware microarchitectural tradeoffs.
* Participate in hardware/software co-design discussions spanning AI workloads, runtime software, firmware, and system architecture.
* Work with software teams to define ISA usage, hardware interfaces, exception and interrupt models, and performance-critical interactions.
* Optimize designs for performance, power, area, scalability, and reliability.
* Partner closely with verification and physical design teams throughout the development cycle.
* Analyze performance bottlenecks and propose architectural and implementation improvements.
* Leverage modern engineering tools, including AI-assisted development workflows, to improve productivity, quality, and design exploration.
* Participate in design reviews and contribute to a culture of technical excellence.

### Desired Experience

* 5 years (or equivalent depth) designing RTL for complex digital systems, ideally with ownership of meaningful blocks through tapeout.
* Strong understanding of CPU architecture and microarchitecture: pipelining, hazards, speculation, branch prediction, out-of-order or in-order execution tradeoffs, and memory ordering.
* Experience with high-speed design: timing-driven RTL coding, critical-path optimization, pipeline balancing, and achieving timing closure at high frequencies in advanced process nodes.
* Experience with low-power design techniques: fine-grained clock gating, power gating, multi-voltage domains, DVFS, and UPF/CPF-based power intent.
* Expert-level Verilog/SystemVerilog and modern RTL design methodologies (lint, CDC, synthesis-aware coding).
* Strong grasp of performance, power, and area tradeoffs, and experience making data-driven microarchitecture decisions.
* Experience with hardware/software co-design and system-level performance optimization.
* Strong debugging and problem-solving skills.
* Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary engineering environment.

### Preferred Qualifications

* Hands-on experience designing, extending, or integrating RISC-V cores --- including the RISC-V ISA, standard extensions (e.g., vector, bit-manipulation, hypervisor), privilege modes, and the surrounding ecosystem.
* Experience with RISC-V-specific infrastructure: PLIC/CLIC/AIA interrupt architectures, debug spec, trace, and platform-level interoperability.
* Familiarity with cache and memory-subsystem design from the core's perspective: L1/L2 caches, coherency, MMU/TLB design, and memory ordering models.
* Experience with multi-core or heterogeneous compute clusters, including coherent interconnect integration (e.g., AXI, CHI, ACE).
* Exposure to safety-capable core design: lockstep, ECC-protected structures, and fault detection/reporting.

### Relevant Backgrounds

* CPUs and microprocessor cores
* GPUs
* AI accelerators
* Networking and communications silicon
* Storage and data movement architectures
* Robotics and autonomous systems
* Automotive and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS)
* Aerospace and defense systems
* Real-time and safety-critical computing
* Functional safety architectures and methodologies

### Nice to Have

* Knowledge of functional safety (e.g., ISO 26262/ASIL) as it applies to CPU and control-path design.
* Experience with AI, machine learning, or edge AI hardware.
* Familiarity with robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, or industrial automation systems.
* Exposure to performance modeling, emulation, FPGA prototyping, or silicon bring-up.
* Experience using modern AI tools and workflows to accelerate engineering productivity.

### Compensation \& Benefits

At Velaura, we believe exceptional talent deserves exceptional rewards. Compensation for this role includes a competitive base salary, performance-based incentives, and equity participation, allowing team members to share in the company's long-term success. The base pay range for this role is between $125k and $275k, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

In addition to compensation, Velaura offers a comprehensive benefits package that may include medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, flexible work arrangements, professional development opportunities, and other benefits designed to support the well-being and growth of our team.

Velaura is committed to pay equity and transparency, and we regularly benchmark compensation to ensure we remain competitive in the market.

### Why Velaura?

This is an opportunity to help build a new class of computing architecture at a time when the industry is undergoing fundamental change.

You will work alongside experienced leaders and architects who have delivered industry-defining products across mobile, cloud, and AI platforms.

If you enjoy building hardware, tackling difficult technical challenges, and helping shape the future of Physical AI, we would love to hear from you.