Automotive MCU Chip Architect

Team: Software Engineer

Location: Duesseldorf

Commitment: Full- Time

Workplace Type: onsite

What you'll do

Key Responsibilities

System Architecture Definition
• Define the overall automotive MCU architecture from product, customer, and market requirements.
• Translate use cases into chip-level requirements covering performance, safety, security, power, cost, and
  scalability.
• Drive system partitioning across CPUs, memories, interconnects, peripherals, safety/security functions,
  debug, test, and power domains.
• Own architecture trade-offs and document decision rationale for reuse across MCU families and
  derivatives.

Subsystem Architecture Ownership

• Align subsystem concepts and interfaces across compute, memory, bus/interconnect, peripheral, safety,
  security, power/reset/clock, debug/trace, and DFT/test domains.
• Ensure subsystem requirements are implementation-feasible and verifiable at RTL, subsystem, chip,
  silicon, and software levels.
• Define hardware/software-visible architecture elements such as memory maps, register model
  principles, interrupts, DMA, boot flow, and access-control concepts.

Cross-Functional Technical Leadership

• Lead architecture reviews and resolve trade-offs between product management, system engineering,
  safety, security, design, verification, software, backend, test, and validation teams.
• Provide technical guidance during concept, design, verification, silicon bring-up, qualification, and
  customer support phases.
• Ensure architectural consistency, requirement traceability, and risk closure across global engineering
  teams.

What we require

Required Technical Expertise

MCU / SoC Architecture
• Deep understanding of real-time MCU architectures, CPU subsystems, memories, peripheral integration,
  low-power design, product-family scalability, and silicon implementation constraints.

Automotive Functional Safety
• Practical ISO 26262 expertise including ASIL concepts, safety goals, technical safety requirements,
  FMEDA/DFA/FTA awareness, and definition of safety mechanisms at system and subsystem level.

Automotive Cybersecurity
• Understanding of secure boot, hardware root of trust, HSM integration, cryptographic accelerators, key
  management, lifecycle states, secure debug, and ISO/SAE 21434 concepts.

Digital Design and Implementation Awareness
• Ability to reason about RTL feasibility, timing, area, power, DFT, backend constraints, IP integration,
  verification closure, and bring-up observability.

Embedded Software Awareness
• Working knowledge of startup software, boot flows, drivers, AUTOSAR concepts, RTOS use, interrupts,
  memory protection, debug, and software-visible register behavior.

Required Experience
• 10+ years in semiconductor, MCU, SoC, or embedded systems development.
• Several years in system architecture, subsystem architecture, or senior technical leadership.
• Hands-on experience with automotive MCU or automotive SoC products.
• Experience across concept definition, architecture specification, design support, verification support,
  silicon bring-up, qualification, and customer support.
• Proven ability to work with international and cross-functional engineering teams.