Director of Silicon Engineering, AI-Native Chip Design

**Job Title** Director of Silicon Engineering, AI-Native Chip Design **About Cognichip** At Cognichip, we are building AI-native tools that transform how semiconductor engineers create, verify, and optimize chips. Our platform combines large proprietary models, agentic workflows, domain-specific engineering intelligence, and high-performance simulation infrastructure to accelerate one of the world’s most complex engineering disciplines. **About the Role** We are seeking a Director of Silicon Engineering to scale our AI-native chip design organization. This leader will bridge deep technical expertise with strategic management to build a high-performing team. Collaborating with Product, SW, and AI teams, you will pioneer the next generation of AI-first hardware tools. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of shipping production silicon and a passion for re-imagining chip design workflows through an AI lens. **Key Responsibilities** - Build, lead, and grow a high-performing hardware engineering team, including hiring, mentoring, and establishing management structure as the org scales - Set the technical roadmap for translating chip-design expertise into AI-consumable knowledge bases, agent playbooks, model training data, and tool-aware workflows - Own delivery of production-quality outcomes on schedule, partnering closely with Product, SW and AI/ML teams **Required Qualifications** - 20+ years of experience across architecture, RTL design, verification, and physical design stages - Proven experience building and leading engineering teams of 20+ - Track record of shipping multiple production ASIC/SoC products end-to-end - Experience with, and exposure to, AI/ML-driven chip design workflows, tooling **Preferred Qualifications** - Experience with CAD systems; experience integrating workflows with EDA tools - Experience developing, interacting with, or influencing, multi-disciplinary products involving HW, SW and AI **What It's Like Here** - We’re a fast-moving AI startup with a collaborative, high-trust culture. - We value technical excellence, ownership, and the freedom to experiment. - Our best work happens when our builders and innovators work closely together to turn ambitious ideas into category defining products. - We operate on a hybrid schedule with four days in office, one day remote. - If you’re excited to build cutting edge tools that empower semiconductor engineers and reshape how chips are designed, you’ll feel right at home.