CAD HW-SW Infrastructure Engineer

Overview

San Jose, CA OR Pittsburgh, PA OR Austin, TX

Efficient is developing the world’s most energy-efficient general-purpose computer processor. Efficient’s patented technology uses 100x less energy than state of the art commercially available ultra-low-power processors and is programmable using standard high-level programming languages and AI/ML frameworks. This level of efficiency makes perpetual, pervasive intelligence possible: run AI/ML continuously on a AA battery for 5-10 years. Our platform’s unprecedented level of efficiency enables IoT devices to intelligently capture and curate first-party data to drive the next major computing revolution.

Efficient is seeking a CAD HW-SW Infrastructure Engineer to own and scale the backbone of both our hardware design infrastructure and software build/CI infrastructure. This role is a hybrid between CAD infrastructure and Dev Ops: you’ll keep software systems running smoothly for compiler and runtime teams, while also managing the hardware toolchain used for ASIC development—including PDK installs, EDA licensing, and third-party IP integration.

If you enjoy making engineers wildly productive, love root-causing weird build failures, and don’t mind occasionally wrestling with a vendor license server at 2am then this role is for you. Join our team and help us shape the future of computing at the edge and beyond!

• Install, maintain, and update PDKs from semiconductor foundries, including version control, documentation, and internal distribution.
• Manage installation and configuration of EDA tools and license servers (Cadence/Synopsys/Siemens, etc.).
• Install, validate, and upgrade third-party vendor IP (digital, analog, memory, interface, etc.).
• Maintain standard CAD environments, tool wrappers, and setup scripts.
• Support reproducible flows for synthesis, P&R, timing closure, DRC/LVS, signoff, and regression runs.
• Maintain and improve build and test infrastructure for compiler and software optimization teams.
• Own CI pipelines (e.g., Git Hub Actions/Jenkins/Buildkite), ensuring correctness, speed, and reliability.
• Support package/tool distribution and dependency management across Linux development environments.
• Manage compute resources for builds, regression testing, and performance benchmarking.
• Monitor infra health, improve uptime, and reduce engineer time lost to tooling issues
• Create a “single source of truth” for tooling, versions, and environments across hardware + software teams.
• Improve onboarding speed by making environments easy to set up and consistent.
• Partner with design, verification, and compiler teams to reduce friction and improve iteration speed.
• Manage proprietary hardware infrastructure (test boards and system environment) for automated, on-chip application testing (regression and benchmarking)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering or related fields with 5+ years of industry experience or MS in Computer Engineering or related fields with 3+ years of industry experience
• Experience supporting engineering infrastructure (Dev Ops, CAD, build systems, CI, etc.).
• Scripting ability in Python, Go and Bash.
• Comfort working across both software and hardware teams, translating requirements into reliable tooling.
• Installing and maintaining PDKs and related flows.
• EDA license server setup and management.
• Familiarity with ASIC/SoC flows and common tool chains.
• Managing third-party IP releases and validation
• CI/CD for large repos and multi-language build systems.
• Experience with CMake/Bazel/Ninja/Make and modern dependency management.
• Experience with containers (Docker/Podman), and/or reproducible dev environments (Nix, Conda, etc.).
• Familiarity with cluster compute environments (Slurm, Kubernetes, etc.) is a plus

• Experience managing artifact caches, distributed builds, and test sharding.
• Familiarity with security best practices for internal infra.
• Prior work in a startup environment where you build systems from scratch.

Efficient offers a competitive compensation and benefits package
, including 401K match, company-paid benefits, equity program, paid parental leave, and flexibility
. We are committed to personal and professional development and strive to grow together as people and as a company.

We offer a competitive salary for this role, generally ranging from $160,000 to $220,000, along with meaningful equity and comprehensive benefits. The final compensation package will be based on your experience and location, with some flexibility to ensure we align with the right candidate.