Principal ASIC Design Engineer

Cognichip Inc.
Cognichip Inc.

Software Engineering, Design

Redwood City, CA, USA

Posted on Jun 16, 2026
**Job Title** Principal ASIC Design Engineer **About Us** At Cognichip, we are building the next-generation AI-enabled solutions to empower semiconductor design engineers with a 10x productivity boost through specialized generative models, agentic workflows and seamless integration with high-performance EDA engines. **Role Overview** We are seeking a Principal ASIC Design Engineer at the intersection of silicon design and artificial intelligence. This senior IC role focuses on re-imagining chip design flows with an AI-first mindset, and charting the path to incorporate enterprise and know-how into intelligent systems forAI-native production-quality chip design and verification. The ideal candidate combines deep silicon expertise, microarchitecture, RTL, DV, and EDA workflows, into structured AI-driven and tool-aware processes. **Key Responsibilities** - Translate chip-design expertise (RTL/DV best practices, micro-architectural patterns, failure modes) into reusable, AI-consumable knowledge bases and agent playbooks.- Identify bottlenecks in advanced chip design process and devise novel models, tools, and to rethink workflows to drastically change the outcome- Define EDA tool usage strategies and wrappers for AI-native workflows- Define evaluation strategies suitable for AI systems to enhance performance and grounding **Required Qualifications** - 15+ years of hands-on experience in Chip Design and Physical Design.- Proven expertise in Digital IC, ASIC, or SoC design; strong proficiency in SystemVerilog RTL and STA.- Solid understanding of microarchitecture concepts: pipelines, FIFOs, DMA engines, caches, and on-chip interconnects.- Deep familiarity with the full design cycle: lint, CDC/RDC, functional simulation, and STA.- Ability to articulate design tradeoffs and debug complex RTL issues.- Proficiency in Python; experience integrating tools into automated workflows. **Preferred Qualifications** - Demonstrated experience with AI/ML systems (of any kind), prompt and context engineering- Ability to translate complex silicon design problems into structured, executable and verifiable components in agent workflows.- Experience with AI-assisted EDA tools or ML/chip design research.- Contributions to open-source chip design, EDA tooling, or AI/ML infrastructure. **What We Offer** - A foundational role in how AI transforms chip design.- A collaborative environment where deep silicon expertise meets cutting-edge AI research.- Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits.- Flexible work with access to world-class compute and EDA infrastructure. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.