Demo

Principal Emulation Engineer

asteralabs
San Jose, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 12/9/2025
AVAILABLE BEFORE 2/9/2026

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com.

We are looking for a Principal Emulation Engineer with hands-on experience verifying protocols on complex ASICs and experience with or interest in emulation.  The ideal candidate would be at ease creating environments to enable verification teams to stress test ASICs, as well as debugging design, environment, transactor, and code issues.  The candidate must have good knowledge of communication protocols such as PCI-Express (Gen-3 and above), DDR, Ethernet, NVMe, or similar interfaces.

Basic qualifications:

  • Strong academic and technical background in computer/electrical engineering. At a minimum, a Bachelor’s in EE or Computer Science is required, and a Master’s is preferred.
  • ≥8 years’ experience supporting or developing complex SoC/silicon products for Server, Storage or Networking applications.
  • Experience working with logic designers to architect, specify, and verify hardware-software interfaces on complex SoCs.
  • Professional attitude with the ability to prioritize a dynamic list of multiple tasks and to work with minimal guidance and supervision.
  • Entrepreneurial, open-mind behavior and can-do attitude. Think and act fast with the customer in mind!
  • Authorized to work in the US and start immediately.

Required experience:

  • Working knowledge of PCIe, Ethernet, DDR, SPI, I2C/I3C or similar protocols.
  • High level of proficiency in System Verilog and verification environments.
  • Experience understanding software and hardware co-simulation limitations and debug methods.
  • Experience in programming and scripting languages (like perl/python/C).
  • Currently based locally or open to relocation.

Preferred experience:

  • Experience in emulation and prototyping technologies like Palladium/Zebu/Veloce or HAPS and FPGA prototyping.
  • Experience in modeling for emulation and prototyping, and/or non-UVM environments

The base salary range is $209,000.00 USD – $230,000.00 USD. Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions.  

We know that creativity and innovation happen more often when teams include diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences, and we actively encourage everyone with relevant experience to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities.

Salary : $209,000 - $230,000

If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution. Compensation Planning
Enhance your organization's compensation strategy with salary data sets that HR and team managers can use to pay your staff right. Surveys & Data Sets

What is the career path for a Principal Emulation Engineer?

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs on the Principal Emulation Engineer career path by checking the boxes next to the positions that interest you.
Income Estimation: 
$131,953 - $159,624
Income Estimation: 
$169,825 - $204,021
Income Estimation: 
$166,631 - $195,636
Income Estimation: 
$162,237 - $199,353
Income Estimation: 
$181,083 - $218,117
Income Estimation: 
$131,953 - $159,624
Income Estimation: 
$169,825 - $204,021
Income Estimation: 
$166,631 - $195,636
Income Estimation: 
$162,237 - $199,353
Income Estimation: 
$181,083 - $218,117
Income Estimation: 
$162,237 - $199,353
Income Estimation: 
$222,110 - $256,974
Income Estimation: 
$224,976 - $270,947
Income Estimation: 
$205,834 - $254,869
Income Estimation: 
$242,530 - $287,120
Income Estimation: 
$73,784 - $86,677
Income Estimation: 
$90,372 - $103,622
Income Estimation: 
$61,825 - $80,560
Income Estimation: 
$90,032 - $105,965
Income Estimation: 
$85,996 - $102,718
Income Estimation: 
$85,996 - $102,718
Income Estimation: 
$111,859 - $131,446
Income Estimation: 
$110,457 - $133,106
Income Estimation: 
$105,809 - $128,724
Income Estimation: 
$122,763 - $145,698
View Core, Job Family, and Industry Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles Skills Library

Job openings at asteralabs

  • asteralabs San Jose, CA
  • Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions grounded in open standards. By collaborating ... more
  • 14 Days Ago

  • asteralabs San Jose, CA
  • Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosy... more
  • 4 Days Ago

  • asteralabs San Jose, CA
  • Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions grounded in open standards. By collaborating ... more
  • 5 Days Ago

  • asteralabs San Jose, CA
  • Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosy... more
  • 10 Days Ago


Not the job you're looking for? Here are some other Principal Emulation Engineer jobs in the San Jose, CA area that may be a better fit.

  • Astera Labs San Jose, CA
  • Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions grounded in open standards. By collaborating ... more
  • 7 Days Ago

  • Cadence Design Systems Inc San Jose, CA
  • Job Details At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology. Seeking a technical developer for... more
  • 11 Days Ago

AI Assistant is available now!

Feel free to start your new journey!