Technical Functional Safety Program Manager

As the pioneers who introduced RISC-V to the world, SiFive is transforming the future of compute by bringing the limitless potential of RISC-V to the highest performance and most data-intensive applications in the world. SiFive’s unrivaled compute platforms are continuing to enable leading technology companies around the world to innovate, optimize and deliver the most advanced solutions of tomorrow across every market segment of chip design, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, automotive, data center, mobile, and consumer. With SiFive, the future of RISC-V has no limits.

At SiFive, we are always excited to connect with talented individuals, who are just as passionate about driving innovation and changing the world as we are.  

Our constant innovation and ongoing success is down to our amazing teams of incredibly talented people, who collaborate and support each other to come up with truly groundbreaking ideas and solutions.  Solutions that will have a huge impact on people's lives; making the world a better place, one processor at a time. 

Are you ready?  

To learn more about SiFive’s phenomenal success and to see why we have won the GSA’s prestigious Most Respected Private Company Award (for the fourth time!), check out our website and Glassdoor pages.

Job Description:

This position is for a Technical Functional Safety Program Manager, within the Program Management Office (PMO) at SiFive. The role is intended to lead the planning, coordination, execution, and tracking of functional safety programs across the product lifecycle, combining core technical program management responsibilities with ISO 26262 functional safety management for automotive and other safety-relevant programs.

As a TPM in this role, you will work cross-functionally with architecture, design, DV, software, system test, cybersecurity, release management, and product teams to ensure program execution is predictable, risks are managed, and required safety activities and deliverables are planned and completed.

This role complements SiFive’s organizational functional safety structure and is best suited for a candidate with program management strength, working knowledge of ISO 26262, and hands-on semiconductor IP development experience.

• Lead and coordinate cross-functional execution of functional safety programs through planning, execution, delivery, and support phases.

• Develop and maintain the overall program plan, including schedules, milestones, dependencies, resourcing assumptions, critical path, and risk tracking.

• Drive functional safety management activities for assigned programs in accordance with ISO 26262 and SiFive internal processes.

• Create and maintain the safety plan, integrate safety activities into the broader program plan, and monitor progress to completion.

• Creation and maintenance of the safety case and track closure of actions needed to demonstrate functional safety compliance.

• Work with the Organizational Functional Safety Manager to ensure required practices, competencies, and training are in place for the program.

• Coordinate development of key Functional Safety work products and customer-facing deliverables such as Safety Manual, Development Interface Agreement, safety analyses, and safety package with support from engineering and safety experts as needed.

• Track and drive closure of safety-related risks, issues, action items, errata impact analyses, and change-related decisions across the program.

• Facilitate technical and program discussions, resolve high-level project issues, and ensure effective decision-making across stakeholders.

• Communicate safety status, program status, risks, and progress clearly to senior management and program stakeholders.

• Support and participate in internal and external audits, assessments, reviews, and confirmation measures relevant to the program.

• Collaborate closely with engineering teams to ensure safety requirements are correctly captured, understood, implemented, verified, and traced through development.

• Contribute to continuous improvement of program management, product lifecycle, and functional safety processes.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent experience.

• 5+ years of technical leadership and program management experience leading cross-functional semiconductor or compute-related programs.

• 4+ years of experience with CPU, GPU, compute element, semiconductor, or semiconductor IP development, with sufficient technical depth to engage engineering teams credibly.

• Experience driving programs from concept through execution, delivery, and release with clear metrics, risks, and dependency management.

• Familiarity with ISO 26262 and functional safety product development requirements; prior experience managing or supporting programs for ASIL B through ASIL D applications is strongly preferred.

• Understanding of functional safety lifecycle activities and relevant work products such as safety plans, safety cases, requirements traceability, audits, and assessments.

• Ability to facilitate technical discussions and drive alignment and engineering decisions across cross-functional teams.

• Proficiency with Jira, Confluence, Git/GitHub, Jama or similar requirements management tools and program/project tracking tools such as Smartsheets or equivalent.

• Excellent organization, communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.

• Hands-on experience in semiconductor IP design and verification processes, ASIC development methodologies, and product development lifecycle execution.

• Experience collaborating with functional safety architects, certification bodies, or external assessors as part of product safety assessments.

• Working knowledge of hardware safety analysis methods such as DFMEA, FMEA, FMEDA, and DFA.

• Knowledge of ISO 9001 and ISO/SAE 21434 is a plus.

• Experience managing hardware development programs using Agile methodologies 

Additional Information:

This position requires a successful background and reference checks and satisfactory proof of your right to work in:

Any offer of employment for this position is also contingent on the Company verifying that you are a authorized for access to export-controlled technology under applicable export control laws or, if you are not already authorized, our ability to successfully obtain any necessary export license(s) or other approvals.

SiFive is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.