ASIC Architect

About the Company

Etched is building hardware for frontier intelligence. We co-design chips, racks, software, and manufacturing to deliver best-in-class throughput and latency across both prefill and decode workloads. Our first products are heavily focused on inference.

Responsibilities

• Design and analyze chip architectures optimized for AI/ML workloads, with focus on throughput, latency, and power efficiency
• Contribute to power and area estimation methodologies for early-stage, next generation architectural exploration
• Create architectural specifications and interface definitions for compute blocks and subsystems
• Collaborate with RTL, verification, physical design, and software teams to ensure architectural feasibility and ultimate optimization
• Conduct architectural experiments using cycle-accurate simulators and analytical models
• Support integration efforts by providing architectural guidance and resolving design challenges

Requirements

• PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of experience in computer architecture, ASIC design, or related fields
• Strong understanding of computer architecture fundamentals including pipelines, memory hierarchies, and interconnects
• Experience with performance modeling and architectural simulation tools
• Hands-on experience designing and optimizing floating-point datapaths or arithmetic-intensive circuits
• Proficiency in Rust, C/C++, or Python for modeling and analysis
• Knowledge of modern processor microarchitecture and design tradeoffs

Preferred Qualifications

• AI/ML accelerator architectures and dataflow optimization
• RTL design and verification (Verilog/SystemVerilog)
• Cycle-accurate simulation tools (gem5, SystemC, or custom simulators)
• Power and performance analysis methodologies
• ASIC design flow and physical design constraints
• Experience with tapeout and silicon bring-up

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage
• $500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits
• Housing subsidy of $2k per month for those living within walking distance of the office
• Relocation support for those moving to San Jose
• Various wellness benefits covering fitness and mental health
• Daily lunch and dinner in our office
• Unlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification