Senior Platform Hardware Design Engineer

About This Role

• Position Overview As a Platform Hardware Design Engineer, you will provide technical leadership for the architecture, design, integration, bring-up, and validation of complex platform hardware.
• You will drive hardware development end-to-end, translating high level system requirements into detailed circuit and component specifications and leading designs from architecture and schematic development through PCB implementation, board power-on, debugging, validation, and delivery.
• You will be expected to make platform level technical decisions, resolve complex and ambiguous multidisciplinary problems, lead critical design reviews, drive cross-functional alignment, mentor engineers, and influence hardware development practices across projects.
• Our Business Group You will be joining the Silicon and Platform Engineering Group (SPE), an organization at Intel committed to advancing Intel's mission of delivering world-class silicon and platform solutions.
• The group focuses on developing integrated systems that align with customer needs and support Intel's broader goals of leadership in technology innovation.
• SPE collaborates across diverse domains to ensure Intel platforms meet performance, reliability, and scalability requirements.
• Our work sits at the intersection of silicon, board hardware, firmware, validation, signal and power integrity, mechanical and thermal engineering, PCB technology, manufacturing, and system integration.
• Our senior hardware engineers have a broader responsibility than executing an individual design.
• They help establish platform architecture, guide implementation, identify and qualify appropriate hardware solutions, provide technical leadership during board power-on and debug, and lead resolution of schematic, layout, SI/PI, and hardware issues.
• Key Responsibilities Platform Architecture and End-to-End Technical Ownership • Own complex platform-board designs from requirements and architecture through deployment. • Translate high level platform and silicon requirements into system architecture, circuit level requirements, component specifications, and PCB implementation requirements. • Define and drive critical platform architecture decisions encompassing high speed interfaces, memory, power delivery, clocking, resets, sequencing, control, management, and validation functionality. • Lead design trade-offs across electrical performance, SI/PI, thermal and mechanical constraints, board complexity, reliability, manufacturability, component availability, cost, schedule, and system compatibility. • Establish clear technical direction where platform requirements or implementation approaches are initially ambiguous.
• Advanced Board Design and Technical Leadership • Lead development of complex high density, multilayer PCBs incorporating advanced digital, analog, mixed signal, and power circuitry. • Own or provide technical leadership for schematic design, component selection, interface definition, PCB implementation, and design verification. • Establish PCB stack-up, placement, routing, impedance, power distribution, and critical interface requirements in collaboration with layout and analysis teams. • Lead schematic, layout, and technical design reviews and ensure critical findings are driven to closure. • Guide engineers and layout teams in resolving challenging schematic, PCB, layout, and design-for-X issues. • Identify and qualify new hardware solutions and reusable design approaches where appropriate.
• High-Speed Design and SI/PI • Apply deep understanding of signal integrity, power integrity, transmission-line behavior, high-speed interfaces, and platform power delivery to architecture and implementation decisions. • Partner with SI/PI engineers to establish design constraints and evaluate critical interfaces and power delivery networks. • Review PCB implementations for stack-up, placement, routing, return path continuity, high speed performance, and advanced SI/PI considerations. • Use modeling, simulation, measurement, and hardware correlation to guide technical decisions as appropriate.
• Power Architecture and Power Delivery • Define and review platform power delivery architecture, voltage regulation, sequencing, power budgeting, and power distribution networks. • Evaluate board and system power delivery tradeoffs, considering electrical performance, transient behavior, PCB implementation, and platform requirements. • Work with power integrity specialists to assess PDN behavior and drive required design improvements. • Apply simulation and hardware measurement to correlate power delivery behavior and resolve platform issues.
• Board Bring-up, System Integration and Debug • Define and lead power-on, bring up, validation, characterization, and debug strategy for complex platform hardware. • Lead resolution of difficult issues spanning board hardware, silicon, firmware, high-speed interfaces, power delivery, and system integration. • Use disciplined root cause analysis to diagnose failures and define corrective actions. • Provide hands-on technical leadership in the lab during critical power-on, bring up, and debug activities. • Apply appropriate measurement techniques and laboratory equipment for high speed, low speed, clock, power, and digital/analog circuitry. • Drive problems across engineering boundaries until technical closure.
• Program and Cross-functional Leadership • Serve as a senior technical interface across silicon, firmware, validation, SI/PI, mechanical, thermal, PCB layout, manufacturing, suppliers, and program teams. • Lead technical discussions and design reviews and communicate risks, tradeoffs, recommendations, and design decisions clearly to stakeholders. • Identify technical and execution risks early and drive mitigation plans. • Own technical readiness for critical hardware milestones, including design release, fabrication, assembly, power-on, and validation. • Develop and improve reusable architectures, review methodologies, design checklists, development flows, and engineering practices. • Mentor engineers through architecture development, schematic and PCB reviews, bring-up, debug, and technical problem solving. • Influence technical decisions and engineering practices beyond an individual board or project.