ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Chip Architect Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Normal Computing

Silicon Architect

New York, NY · On-site

$234K - $298K/yr

If the appeal of working on a chip that has to be invented is greater to you than iterating on one that already exists, keep reading. Responsibilities * Help define the architecture and ...

Altera

Clocking Architect

San Jose, CA · On-site

$76 - $99.50/hr

Clocking Architecture & Full-Chip Strategy * Own and drive the complete clocking architecture for Altera's FPGA/SoC devices, including clock tree topology, domain partitioning, frequency planning ...

Apple

GPU Benchmark Analysis Architect

Cupertino, CA · On-site

$206K/yr

You'll collaborate with engineers across Apple to design how all of our technologies work in unison, drive development of our renowned system-on-a-chip architecture and develop forward-looking ...

QCi

... architectural development of quantum and artificial intelligence (AI) computational structures ... chip-scale implementation. This role focuses on translating advanced quantum and AI concepts into ...

Tensordyne

Principal ASIC Architect

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site

Analyze technical needs, propose chip design solutions, create detailed design specifications, lead architectural modeling and establish ASIC development milestones to ensure that the final product ...

Tensordyne

Principal ASIC Architect

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site +1

Analyze technical needs, propose chip design solutions, create detailed design specifications, lead architectural modeling and establish ASIC development milestones to ensure that the final product ...

next page

Showing results 1-20

All JobsChip Architect Jobs

Chip Architect information

See salary details

$46.5K

$128.8K

$201.5K

How much do chip architect jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 29, 2026, the average yearly pay for chip architect in the United States is $128,756.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $91,000.00 and $166,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What jobs will boom in 2026?

In 2026, roles related to chip architecture and semiconductor design are expected to grow due to increasing demand for advanced electronics and AI hardware. Skills in VLSI design, hardware description languages, and proficiency with CAD tools will be valuable for chip architects and related positions. The industry will also see growth in embedded systems and IoT device development jobs.

What are some common challenges faced by Chip Architects when translating system requirements into chip designs?

Chip Architects often face the challenge of balancing performance, power consumption, and cost constraints while translating high-level system requirements into detailed chip architectures. They must ensure that their designs can be efficiently implemented in silicon, taking into account factors like manufacturability, scalability, and integration with existing hardware and software. Collaborating closely with cross-functional teams—such as hardware, software, and verification engineers—is essential to address issues early and ensure alignment throughout the development process. Staying updated with rapidly evolving semiconductor technologies and industry standards is also a key part of overcoming these challenges.

What does a Chip Architect do?

A Chip Architect is responsible for designing the overall structure and functionality of integrated circuits or microchips. They define the chip's architecture, specifying how different components such as processors, memory, and interfaces work together to achieve desired performance, power, and area targets. Chip Architects collaborate with hardware engineers, software developers, and verification teams to ensure the final product meets technical specifications and industry standards. Their work is crucial for developing advanced electronics used in computers, smartphones, and other digital devices.

What is the highest paid architect job?

The highest paid roles for chip architects are typically senior or lead positions in semiconductor companies, with salaries often exceeding $200,000 annually. Factors such as experience, expertise in hardware design, and working for major tech firms or chip manufacturers influence compensation levels.

What is the difference between Chip Architect vs Hardware Design Engineer?

AspectChip ArchitectHardware Design Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related fields; experience in chip design and architectureBachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related fields; focus on circuit design and implementation
Work EnvironmentDesign teams, R&D labs, collaborative project settingsDesign labs, testing facilities, manufacturing environments
Employer & Industry UsageSemiconductor companies, tech firms, integrated circuit manufacturersElectronics companies, semiconductor firms, hardware development labs

The main difference is that a Chip Architect focuses on designing the overall architecture and high-level specifications of chips, while a Hardware Design Engineer concentrates on implementing circuit designs based on specifications. Both roles require electrical engineering expertise, but the Chip Architect is more involved in conceptual and architectural decisions, whereas the Hardware Design Engineer handles detailed circuit development and testing.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Chip Architect, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Chip Architect, you need deep expertise in computer architecture, digital circuit design, and strong analytical skills, usually supported by an advanced degree in electrical engineering or a related field. Familiarity with hardware description languages (like Verilog or VHDL), EDA tools, and simulation platforms is essential, along with knowledge of industry-standard protocols. Strong problem-solving abilities, effective communication, and leadership skills set outstanding chip architects apart when collaborating across multidisciplinary teams. These competencies are crucial for designing efficient, innovative chips that meet performance, power, and cost requirements in a highly competitive technology industry.

What engineer makes $500,000 a year?

Senior chip architects or lead hardware engineers in the semiconductor industry can earn $500,000 or more annually, especially with extensive experience, advanced skills in VLSI design, and working at major technology companies. High compensation often includes bonuses, stock options, and other incentives for top-tier professionals in specialized roles.

What jobs can DT get you?

A Chip Architect is responsible for designing and developing integrated circuit hardware, including microprocessors and other semiconductor devices. This role often leads to positions such as hardware engineer, system architect, or design engineer, and requires knowledge of digital design, hardware description languages, and electronic design automation tools.
More about Chip Architect jobs
What cities are hiring for Chip Architect jobs? Cities with the most Chip Architect job openings:
What states have the most Chip Architect jobs? States with the most job openings for Chip Architect jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Chip Architect jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Chip Architect jobs are:
Chip Architect jobs near you
Infographic showing various Chip Architect job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 80% Full Time, 4% Part Time, and 16% Contract. Highlights an 96% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 2% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $128,756 per year, or $61.9 per hour.

Silicon Architect

Normal Computing

New York, NY • On-site

$234K - $298K/yr

Full-time

Posted 2 days ago

Key responsibilities

  • Help define the architecture and microarchitecture of novel AI accelerator compute blocks, including PE array design, datapath organization, and efficiency techniques.

  • Translate workload analysis and research findings into hardware specifications and produce clear microarchitecture documents for RTL implementation.

  • Own the FPGA prototyping work to de-risk architecture decisions before tapeout and determine appropriate questions for FPGA versus simulation.

Job description

Normal Computing | Incredible Opportunities
The Normal Team builds foundational software and hardware that help move technology forward, supporting the semiconductor industry, critical AI infrastructure, and the broader systems that power our world. We work as one team across New York, San Francisco, Copenhagen, Seoul, and London.
Your Role in Our Mission
Look at the AI accelerator roadmaps coming out of every major silicon company right now and you will notice something strange: they are all building the same chip.
Bigger systolic arrays. More HBM. More of the same architecture, scaled harder. The industry has placed a collective bet that the way to win the next decade of AI inference is to refine the GPU paradigm until it cannot be refined any further.
We know that bet is wrong.
Normal is building ASICs purpose-built for image and video diffusion inference, grounded in the physics of computation rather than the assumptions everyone else has inherited. The compute substrate has to be invented, not specified, and we are looking for the person who wants to help invent it.
You will work directly alongside our lead architect and research engineers, contributing across the full architecture stack: compute core microarchitecture, memory subsystem, interconnect, and the FPGA prototyping that proves the decisions before silicon. The team is small. The scope is wide. The architecture is being shaped now, not refined, and your contributions will be visible in the chip when it tapes out.
If the appeal of working on a chip that has to be invented is greater to you than iterating on one that already exists, keep reading.
Responsibilities
  • Help define the architecture and microarchitecture of novel AI accelerator compute blocks. PE array design, datapath organization, and support for efficiency techniques such as sparsity exploitation and reduced-precision computation. The compute tile is the surface where Normal's research advantages have to show up in silicon, and you are one of the people responsible for making sure they do.
  • Translate workload analysis and research findings into hardware specifications. Identify where architectural innovation creates the most leverage, define the structures that realize it, and produce microarchitecture documents unambiguous enough for RTL engineers to implement against. You work closely with them through implementation, not over the wall from it.
  • Reason across the full stack and defend PPA tradeoffs at every level. Move between algorithm-level workload behavior, memory hierarchy, on-chip interconnect, and physical design constraints. Make the call when the data is incomplete, and articulate why under scrutiny from the lead architect and the research team.
  • Partner with the compiler lead on ISA co-design. The compute tile must be compilable and programmable, not just simulatable. The programming model and the microarchitecture are defined together, and you are accountable for both sides meeting in the middle.
  • Own the FPGA prototyping work. Scope what the FPGA implementation actually proves, drive the implementation through to bring-up, and use it to de-risk architecture decisions before tapeout. You decide which questions are worth answering in FPGA versus cycle-accurate simulation.
  • Stay current with the AI accelerator research landscape and be able to articulate clearly where Normal's approach differs from existing solutions and why that matters. This is a research-adjacent seat and you are expected to read, not just consume.

What We're Looking For
  • A degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent work experience. PhD welcome but not required; the bar is the work, not the credential.
  • Substantial experience in architecture or microarchitecture of high-performance digital systems. AI accelerators, compute engines, or similarly complex logic. You have shaped the structures inside a chip, not just consumed them from the outside.
  • Fluency moving between algorithm-level analysis and hardware specification. You can read a profile of a workload and translate it into datapath widths, pipeline stages, and area/power estimates without losing the thread on either side.
  • Experience with simulation-driven architecture. You have used cycle-accurate or analytical models to make and defend design decisions before RTL exists, and you know which questions each tool can answer and which it cannot.
  • Familiarity with quantization and reduced-precision approaches for inference and their implementation implications. You understand the cost of a bit at the hardware level, not just the model level.
  • Experience writing microarchitecture specifications and working closely with RTL engineers through implementation. Your specs are read, not just filed.
  • Proficiency in Python or C++ for performance modeling and analysis, and familiarity with SystemVerilog or equivalent RTL.
  • Comfort operating in an environment where the architecture is actively being discovered alongside the work. You do not need the answer to be already known to make progress on it.

Mindset and Impact
This role is not for everyone. You will spend years on a chip that does not exist yet, defending decisions that cannot be fully validated until silicon comes back, on a bet most of the industry has not made.
The people who thrive here, run toward the hard stuff. They are steady in ambiguity, comfortable when the data is incomplete, and they take the hardest problem on the board first because that is where the answer is hiding. They are not waiting for the architecture to be handed to them. They want to be the ones who define it.
If you have spent your career suspecting you are one of those people, this is where you find out. The chip you help build will be the silicon behind a generation of image and video AI - the work people watch, the work people create with, the work that shapes what the next decade of visual computing looks like.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Normal Computing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.
Accessibility Accommodations
Normal Computing is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know at accommodations@normalcomputing.com.
Privacy Notice
By submitting your application, you agree that Normal Computing may collect, use, and store your personal information for employment-related purposes in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Apply