Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for MTS Systems Design Engineer

🎯 Role Definition

We are actively searching for a highly skilled and motivated MTS (Member of Technical Staff) Systems Design Engineer to join our core architecture team. In this pivotal, high-impact role, you will be the technical cornerstone for our next-generation products, responsible for defining the system architecture from concept to production. You will be instrumental in making critical design trade-offs, analyzing performance, and ensuring that our hardware and software components integrate seamlessly to create a cohesive, powerful, and scalable system. This is an opportunity for a thought leader to influence the technical direction of the company and solve complex, multi-disciplinary challenges.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Systems Engineer
Senior Hardware/Software Design Engineer
Technical Lead / Engineering Lead

Advancement To:

Principal Systems Design Engineer
Distinguished Engineer / Technical Fellow
Director of Systems Architecture or Engineering

Lateral Moves:

Senior Solutions Architect
Technical Product Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Spearhead the end-to-end architectural design of next-generation System-on-Chip (SoC), software platforms, or cloud infrastructure, from initial concept through to high-volume production.
Translate ambiguous product marketing requirements into detailed, unambiguous engineering and architectural specifications for hardware and software teams.
Develop, analyze, and refine system-level performance models to predict system behavior, identify potential bottlenecks, and validate architectural choices against power, performance, and area (PPA) targets.
Drive critical architectural trade-off decisions, balancing technical risks, feature set, cost, and schedule to deliver an optimized and competitive final product.
Serve as the primary technical authority on system-level issues, guiding and influencing cross-functional teams including hardware design, software development, verification, and product management.
Define and document the key hardware-software interfaces, APIs, and communication protocols to ensure seamless integration and functionality across the entire system stack.
Lead the creation and evaluation of proof-of-concept prototypes and architectural testbeds to de-risk new technologies and validate novel design approaches early in the development cycle.
Author and maintain comprehensive, high-quality architectural documentation that serves as the definitive guide for all engineering execution teams.
Conduct deep-dive analysis and debugging of complex, system-level issues that span multiple domains (e.g., silicon, firmware, drivers, OS) and provide expert guidance on resolution.
Propose and champion innovative architectural features and solutions that provide a significant competitive advantage in performance, power efficiency, security, or functionality.
Define system-level use cases and performance metrics, collaborating with verification and validation teams to ensure comprehensive test coverage and architectural compliance.
Engage with key customers and partners to understand their future needs and use cases, feeding that insight back into the long-term architectural and product roadmap.
Mentor junior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and rigorous engineering discipline within the organization.
Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitor analysis to ensure our system architecture remains cutting-edge and future-proof.
Lead formal architectural reviews and present complex technical concepts clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical executive leadership.
Drive the definition of system-level power management strategies, including hardware and software techniques to achieve aggressive power and thermal budgets.
Architect robust security solutions at the system level, identifying potential threats and defining countermeasures in both hardware and software.
Collaborate with the physical design team to understand and influence floor-planning, packaging, and other physical implementation details that impact system performance.
Characterize and analyze system performance on post-silicon platforms, correlating results with pre-silicon models and driving necessary architectural or software optimizations.
Contribute to the company's intellectual property portfolio by inventing novel solutions and participating in the patent application process.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to inform strategic decisions.
Contribute to the organization's long-term technology strategy and product roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate future data needs and market trends into actionable engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile ceremonies within the broader engineering team.
Assist in the technical screening and interviewing of new candidates for the systems engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep expertise in system-level architecture for complex SoCs, embedded systems, or large-scale distributed software systems.
Strong proficiency in performance modeling and analysis using tools like SystemC, MATLAB, or custom C++/Python frameworks.
Advanced knowledge of CPU/GPU architectures, memory subsystems (DDR/LPDDR, caches), and high-speed interconnects (PCIe, CXL).
Proficiency in at least one high-level programming language (e.g., C++, Python) for modeling, scripting, and data analysis.
Experience with hardware description languages (HDLs) such as SystemVerilog or VHDL for architectural exploration.
In-depth understanding of hardware-software co-design principles, firmware, and driver development.
Knowledge of modern operating systems internals (Linux, Windows, RTOS) and virtualization technologies.
Familiarity with system-level power analysis, thermal management, and security architecture principles.
Experience with lab equipment for silicon bring-up and post-silicon validation, such as logic analyzers and oscilloscopes.
Understanding of cloud computing architectures (AWS, GCP, Azure) and designing systems for data center environments.
Knowledge of machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator architectures and workloads.

Soft Skills

Exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to tackle complex, multi-disciplinary challenges.
Outstanding communication and presentation skills, capable of conveying intricate technical details to diverse audiences.
Strong technical leadership and the ability to influence and persuade without direct authority.
A collaborative mindset with a proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
Strategic thinking and the ability to see the bigger picture beyond immediate technical tasks.
High degree of self-motivation, intellectual curiosity, and a drive to innovate.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant technical field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s Degree or Ph.D. strongly preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Electrical Engineering
Computer Engineering
Computer Science

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8-15+ years of progressive experience in a relevant systems design or architecture role.

Preferred: Demonstrable track record of having led the architectural definition for multiple complex products that have successfully shipped in high volume.