Senior Applied Machine Learning Engineer - VLSI Design

NVIDIA in Santa Clara, California is seeking a Senior Applied Machine Learning Engineer focused on VLSI design automation. This role blends data science, AI systems, and agentic approaches to accelerate both pre-silicon and post-silicon hardware design and circuit optimization, with integration into existing tools in the EDA ecosystem. The position offers a hybrid work arrangement and a salary range of USD 152,000 to 264,500 per year. A minimum of four years of relevant experience and an MS or PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or Applied Mathematics are expected.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate within a cross-functional team on projects involving pre-silicon and post-silicon hardware design data, circuit optimization, SPICE correlation, and AI-driven design automation workflows.
• Contribute to applications spanning silicon data analysis, manufacturing process variation analysis, VLSI circuit design, timing, and agent-driven design exploration and flow optimization.
• Translate requirements into data science, ML, and agent-based system problems; architect and implement solutions.
• Test and deploy models and AI systems that integrate with existing machine learning, design automation, and visualization tools within the organization.
• Analyze datasets, formulate and validate hypotheses, extract relevant features, and build models plus self-improving workflows on top of them.
• Refine models, algorithms, and autonomous optimization systems until the desired QOR is reached.

Requirements

• MS/PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or equivalent experience.
• 4+ years of experience in circuit design, VLSI, ASIC, EDA, silicon analysis, or custom circuit design.
• Demonstrated ability in Python and C++ with a background in applied mathematics, ML, or software development.
• Experience with deep learning algorithms and AI agent frameworks; familiarity with PyTorch, LangChain, or LangGraph is a plus.

Technologies

• Python
• C++
• PyTorch
• LangChain
• LangGraph

Benefits

• Equity
• Benefits

Ways to Stand Out From the Crowd

• Experience building AI systems for EDA, design automation, or circuit design workflows.
• Research or project work in AI-driven EDA, circuit optimization, design-space exploration, or autonomous design systems.
• Experience developing agentic systems, autonomous optimization loops, self-improving AI systems, or production-scale AI/ML platforms.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to present technical content effectively.
• Self-motivated with a passion for growth, continuous learning, and sharing findings with the team.