Sr. Director of Hardware Systems Engineering

Sr. Director of Hardware Systems Engineering 

Mission: Groq is seeking a highly technical and strategic leader with a focus on execution to drive the design, development and delivery of our next-gen High Performance Compute Platform. You will shape the technical vision, drive innovation, and ensure the seamless execution of mission-critical solutions that define the future of Groq’s hardware ecosystem. You will have a dedicated focus across all hardware systems through servers and racks.

Responsibilities & opportunities in this role:

• Strategic Leadership: Define and own the hardware systems engineering roadmap, strategy, and execution for our AI inference platform, with a deep focus on SoC integration and system-level performance.
• System & SoC Architecture: Lead the architectural definition and trade-off analysis for complex hardware systems, with a strong emphasis on the interaction and integration of our custom SoC within board-level designs, server integration, and rack-scale deployments. Optimize for performance, power, cost, and reliability.
• Team Building & Management: Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing team of hardware systems engineers specializing in SoC integration, board design, and system validation, fostering a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and collaboration.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with silicon design (front-end and back-end), SoC, firmware, software, product management, operations, and supply chain teams to ensure holistic system design, seamless SoC integration, and successful product delivery.
• Design & Development Oversight: Provide technical leadership and oversight for all phases of hardware system development, including requirements definition, architectural design, component selection, schematic capture, PCB layout guidance, DFM/DFT, and validation, with a critical eye on SoC-centric challenges.
• High-Speed Design: Lead the design and validation of high-speed interfaces, power delivery networks, and signal integrity considerations for the SoC within the board and system context (e.g., DDR, PCIe, custom interconnects).
• Reliability & Qualification: Establish and implement robust reliability and qualification processes for all hardware components and systems, with particular attention to the SoC and its surrounding support circuitry.
• Vendor & Supplier Management: Manage relationships with key hardware component suppliers and manufacturing partners, ensuring quality, cost-effectiveness, and on-time delivery, especially for SoC-related components.
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate technical risks throughout the hardware development lifecycle, with a focus on SoC integration challenges.
• Industry Trends: Stay abreast of the latest advancements in AI hardware, SoC architectures, interconnect technologies, and relevant industry standards, incorporating best practices into our designs.

Ideal candidates have/are:

• 12-15+ years of progressive experience across hardware systems engineering, with a proven track record of successfully bringing complex hardware systems to market, 
• BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• Deep expertise in several of the following areas, with strong understanding across all:
• Custom Silicon/ASIC/SoC design and integration: Expert understanding of chip-level interfaces, packaging, power delivery to SoC, thermal management for SoC, and integration challenges.
• High-speed digital design: Experience with DDR, PCIe, Ethernet, SerDes, and other high-speed interfaces critical for SoC connectivity.
• Board-level design: Strong understanding of PCB design principles, power integrity, signal integrity, EMI/EMC, specifically as it relates to robust SoC operation.
• Hardware/software co-design and debug: Proven ability to debug complex issues at the SoC/board/firmware interface.
• System validation, characterization, and root cause analysis for SoC-centric problems.Sr

Attributes of a Groqster:

• Humility - Egos are checked at the door
• Collaborative & Team Savvy - We make up the smartest person in the room, together
• Growth & Giver Mindset - Learn it all versus know it all, we share knowledge generously
• Curious & Innovative - Take a creative approach to projects, problems, and design
• Passion, Grit, & Boldness - no limit thinking, fueling informed risk taking

If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you!

Compensation: At Groq, a competitive base salary is part of our comprehensive compensation package, which includes equity and benefits. For this role, the base salary range is $300,000 to $380,000, determined by your skills, qualifications, experience and internal benchmarks.

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