Principal Engineer, Validation

We are seeking a Principal Engineer, Validation with deep technical expertise and strong system-level thinking to architect, lead, and continuously improve post-silicon system and functional validation for complex SoC/MCU platforms.

This role is mission-critical to ensuring first-time-right silicon, validating functional correctness, feature compliance, performance, power, and robustness across real-world use cases, PVT corners, and customer workloads. The Principal Engineer acts as a technical authority and trusted advisor, driving validation strategy across pre-silicon, emulation, FPGA, and silicon phases while preventing escapes.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and define automotive system‑level post‑silicon validation strategy aligned to ASIL‑D quality and zero‑escape goals.
• Drive pre↔post silicon continuity, enabling reuse of validation content across simulation, emulation, FPGA, and silicon.
• Architect and own end-to-end validation plans, test strategies, and feature-to-coverage matrices mapped to architecture and design specifications
• Lead validation of boot, power/clock/reset, safety mechanisms, memory, interconnects, and interfaces under stress, corner, and fault conditions.
• Influence SoC architecture and design by identifying validation risks, corner cases, and observability gaps early.
• Lead system bring‑up on automotive evaluation boards, emulation/FPGA platforms, and silicon.
• Define requirements for validation infrastructure, lab readiness, instrumentation, and automation frameworks.
• Serve as final technical escalation point for complex post‑silicon issues; drive disciplined, evidence‑based RCA across HW/FW/SW.
• Establish escape‑prevention mechanisms using coverage proxies, stress scenarios, and data‑driven signoff criteria.
• Champion automation‑first validation, including regressions, diagnostics, CI integration, and quality metrics.
• Own validation readiness assessments, risk reporting, and go/no‑go recommendations for production release.
• Act as a technical bridge across architecture, design, DV, firmware, software, product, and manufacturing teams
• Act as a trusted technical advisor, mentoring engineers and set technical direction and best practices for the validation organization

Required Skills & Experience

• B.E./B. Tech or M.E./M. Tech in Electronics, Electrical, or Computer Engineering.
• 14+ years of experience in post-silicon system validation, SoC bring-up, or functional validation, with demonstrated principal-level impact.
• Strong expertise in SoC/MCU architecture, ARM cores (A/M series), interconnects, peripherals, power/clock/reset, and low-power design techniques.
• Proven experience validating high-speed interfaces (DDR, USB, PCIe, Ethernet, MIPI, etc.) and standard protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, LIN, FlexRay, etc.).
• Advanced proficiency in C/C++ and embedded firmware development for diagnostics, stress, and automation.
• Deep hands-on experience with lab instrumentation (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power/thermal analyzers).
• Strong debug skills using JTAG, Lauterbach, OpenOCD, CoreSight, and related tools.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional technical initiatives and influence without authority.
• Experience with AI frameworks for SoC Validation efficiency and quality gain— eg validation specific AI agents, Cody AI for content development etc.

Preferred

• Experience in automotive-grade SoCs and familiarity with functional safety, quality, and robustness requirements.
• Exposure to emulation, FPGA prototyping, and hybrid validation models.
• Track record of escape reduction and quality improvement across silicon generations.
• Self-driven, systems thinker with strong analytical, mentoring, and strategic decision-making capabilities.
• Experience in validation of  (Neural Processing Unit) or AI accelerator HW functionality on SoC.

Renesas is one of the top global semiconductor companies in the world. We strive to develop a safer, healthier, greener, and smarter world, and our goal is to make every endpoint intelligent by offering product solutions in the automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT markets. Our robust product portfolio includes world leading MCUs, SoCs, Analog and power products, plus Winning Combination solutions that curate these complementary products. We are a key supplier to the world’s leading manufacturers of electronics you rely on every day; you may not see our products, but they are all around you.

Renesas employs roughly 21,000 people in more than 30 countries worldwide. As a global team, our employees actively embody the Renesas Culture, our guiding principles based on five key elements: Transparent, Agile, Global, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial. Renesas believes in, and has a commitment to, diversity and inclusion, with initiatives and a leadership team dedicated to its resources and values. At Renesas, we want to build a sustainable future where technology helps make our lives easier. Join us and build your future by being part of what’s next in electronics and the world.

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’ As the industry’s leading expert in embedded processing with unmatched quality and system-level know-how, we have evolved to provide scalable and comprehensive semiconductor solutions for automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT industries based on the broadest product portfolio, including High Performance Computing, Embedded Processing, Analog & Connectivity, and Power.
 
With a diverse team of over 21,000 professionals in more than 30 countries, we continue to expand our boundaries to offer enhanced user experiences through digitalization and usher into a new era of innovation. We design and develop sustainable, power-efficient solutions today that help people and communities thrive tomorrow, ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’     
 
At Renesas, you can: 

• Launch and advance your career in technical and business roles across four Product Groups and various corporate functions. You will have the opportunities to explore our hardware and software capabilities and try new things.  

• Make a real impact by developing innovative products and solutions to meet our global customers' evolving needs and help make people’s lives easier, safe and secure. 

• Maximize your performance and wellbeing in our flexible and inclusive work environment. Our people-first culture and global support system, including the remote work option and Employee Resource Groups, will help you excel from the first day.    

Are you ready to own your success and make your mark?  

Join Renesas. Let’s Shape the Future together.  

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, committed to supporting diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information, please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.

We have adopted a hybrid model that gives employees the ability to work remotely two days a week while ensuring that we come together as a team in the office the rest of the time. The designated in-office days are Tuesday through Thursday for innovation, collaboration and continuous learning.