Head of Post-Silicon Engineering

Ambiq Micro • Austin, TX

44d • Onsite

About The Position

Shape the future of ultra-low-power computing. As Head of Post-Silicon Engineering, you will own the critical path from first silicon to mass production for a portfolio of industry-leading MCUs powering the next generation of wearables, hearables, and IoT devices — products used by tens of millions of people worldwide. This is a senior leadership role with broad technical authority, direct executive visibility, and real impact on how the world’s most power-sensitive devices are built and shipped.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field (advanced degree strongly preferred).
• 20+ years of semiconductor development experience, with substantial time in MCU or low-power SoC post-silicon validation, bring-up, or test.
• 7+ years in senior leadership roles (Director, Sr. Director, or equivalent) managing multi-site engineering teams.
• Deep technical expertise in one or more of: Low-power microcontrollers (ARM Cortex-M or equivalent cores, memory subsystems, clocking, power domains, analog/mixed-signal integration, security).
• SoCs optimized for battery-powered wearables, hearables, and IoT applications.
• Proven track record of first-silicon success, productization, and high-volume production in low-power MCU/SoC products.
• Hands-on experience with lab bring-up tools and environments: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, power analyzers, source meters.
• Experience with validation and automation frameworks: Python/C/C++, scripting, regression infrastructure, and data analysis.
• Solid understanding of ATE concepts, test coverage, and correlation between lab, system, and production test.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, multi-product programs, make principled technical and schedule trade-offs, and deliver on aggressive timelines.
• Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer.
• We do not sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas (now or in the future) for this role.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s or PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field.
• Direct experience with ultra-low-power MCU design or validation for wearables, hearables, or IoT: deep sleep modes, always-on power domains, sensor hub or audio pipelines, power gating, DVFS.
• Experience with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or other low-power wireless protocols, sensor integration, audio front-ends, and real-time processing common in these markets.
• Familiarity with safety, regulatory, and reliability standards relevant to wearables, hearables, and IoT — consumer, medical-adjacent, or industrial IoT contexts.
• Prior leadership of global organizations with teams across multiple regions and time zones.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive post-silicon engineering strategy for ultra-low-power MCUs across the full product lifecycle — from first silicon through production ramp and long-term lifecycle support.
• Build, lead, and inspire a high-performance global organization of senior managers, engineers, and technical leads with deep MCU, low-power, and system-level expertise.
• Establish roadmaps, resourcing plans, and org structures that scale to support both the current portfolio and next-generation low-power MCU programs.
• Foster a culture of accountability, data-driven decision-making, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.
• Develop talent pipeline and succession plans; attract and retain top-tier industry talent in low-power and system validation domains.
• Manage budgets, headcount, capital expenditures, lab infrastructure, and automation tooling investments.
• Own execution of silicon bring-up, validation, characterization, debug, and system integration for all MCU-based products.
• Lead teams responsible for: MCU bring-up and initial functionality enablement: JTAG, boot, power-up sequences, clocking, resets, security, and debug interfaces.
• Functional and system-level validation against specifications and real-world use cases in wearables, hearables, and IoT — including always-on sensing, audio processing, and BLE connectivity.
• Power, performance, and thermal characterization across PVT corners, with emphasis on aggressive ultra-low-power targets: sleep/standby currents, active power during sensor and audio workloads, and wake-up latencies.
• Peripheral and interface validation: memory, GPIO, timers, I²C, SPI, UART, audio interfaces, BLE/wireless subsystems, analog front-ends, ADCs/DACs, and integrated PMUs.
• Drive automation framework development, validation infrastructure, and reusable test content optimized for MCU and low-power system behaviors common in wearable, hearable, and IoT nodes.
• Own post-silicon debug strategy and escalation: lab issues, customer-reported failures, and production escapes.
• Collaborate closely with Design, Verification, DFT, Firmware, Systems, and Product/Test Engineering to root-cause failures and implement corrective actions — design fixes, ROM patching strategies, test changes, and specification updates.
• Establish metrics and processes for rapid issue closure, silicon errata documentation, MCU revision management, and risk mitigation, with a strong emphasis on field reliability in consumer and IoT deployments.
• Collaborate with Product/Test Engineering on ATE test strategy for MCUs, including analog, digital, low-power, and RF/wireless-related test coverage.
• Ensure strong alignment between post-silicon validation, yield ramp, and manufacturing test to meet quality, reliability, and cost targets for high-volume consumer and IoT production.
• Lead technical engagements with key customers: power deep dives, audio and sensor workload characterization, connectivity validation, and system bring-up support at customer sites.
• Drive resolution of system-level issues spanning firmware, hardware, sensors, audio chains, wireless connectivity, and power subsystems typical of wearables, hearables, and IoT products.
• Translate post-silicon learnings, field data, and customer feedback into product and roadmap influence — your team’s findings shape what we build next.
• Provide technical leadership on reference designs, evaluation boards, low-power demos, audio/sensing example projects, and application notes that accelerate customer design-in and time-to-market.
• Maintain strong cross-regional collaboration with engineering and customer teams in Asia.

Benefits

• We move fast, tackle hard problems, and create space for people to grow through complex, meaningful work that shapes the future of technology.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior