CPU Software Validation Engineering Lead

About the role

Nuvacore is building ground-up CPU silicon for next-generation compute workloads. We are seeking an experienced technical leader to head our CPU Software Validation Engineering organization, responsible for the strategy, architecture, and execution of software validation enabling next-generation processor platforms. This role leads teams responsible for validating CPU firmware, operating system enablement, compiler toolchains, platform runtime software, and telemetry infrastructure across simulation, emulation, pre-silicon environments, and silicon hardware platforms. The organization develops validation frameworks, automated testing infrastructure, and large-scale regression environments ensuring correctness, performance, reliability, and security of platform software across CPU architectures and operating system ecosystems. You will work at the intersection of CPU architecture, silicon design, firmware development, operating systems, toolchains, platform software, and hardware validation, ensuring that system software enabling new processor capabilities meets the highest standards of quality and robustness. THE ROLE – KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Technical Leadership • Define and drive the software validation strategy for next-generation CPU platforms. • Lead validation efforts across firmware, operating systems, toolchains, runtime libraries, and telemetry infrastructure. • Develop scalable validation methodologies ensuring correctness and reliability of low-level platform software. • Enable early detection of issues across firmware, OS, compiler, and hardware interactions through comprehensive validation frameworks. • Diagnose complex cross-layer issues involving CPU microarchitecture, memory subsystems, firmware, operating systems, and platform hardware. Software Validation Architecture • Architect large-scale validation frameworks covering CPU firmware, operating system enablement, toolchains, and runtime software components. • Design automated validation pipelines integrating simulation, emulation, virtualization, and silicon testing environments. • Ensure validation coverage across functional correctness, performance, power management, reliability, and system security. • Develop scalable regression infrastructure supporting continuous integration across large system software codebases. Platform Software Validation • Oversee validation of embedded firmware responsible for CPU initialization, memory configuration, and platform runtime services. • Lead operating system validation efforts including kernel scheduling, memory management, interrupt handling, and device driver enablement. • Validate compiler toolchains and runtime libraries to ensure correct code generation and optimal execution on CPU architectures. • Ensure platform software compatibility across server, client, and embedded computing environments. Automation & Validation Infrastructure • Build and maintain automated testing infrastructure supporting large-scale validation of CPU platform software. • Develop regression frameworks covering unit tests, integration tests, stress testing, and workload validation. • Integrate validation frameworks with CI/CD systems to enable continuous software quality monitoring. • Utilize telemetry, instrumentation, and tracing frameworks to diagnose performance and correctness issues. Silicon Bring-up & Debug • Support first-silicon bring-up and early platform validation through targeted software testing and debugging. • Identify and resolve complex issues involving firmware, operating systems, compilers, and CPU hardware interactions. • Partner with silicon validation and hardware teams to diagnose system-level issues across CPU, memory, and I/O subsystems. Team Leadership • Build, lead, and mentor a high-performance CPU software validation engineering organization. • Establish validation processes, technical direction, and quality metrics aligned with silicon development schedules. • Foster a culture of automation, quality engineering, and data-driven debugging. • Collaborate with global engineering teams across firmware, operating systems, architecture, and platform validation. Cross-Functional Collaboration • Partner with CPU architecture, silicon design, firmware engineering, operating system teams, compiler teams, and hardware validation groups to ensure platform software readiness. • Collaborate with internal and external ecosystem partners to validate operating system compatibility and software stack stability. • Drive cross-team alignment ensuring software quality and readiness for product launch. WHAT YOU’LL OWN • Validation strategy and infrastructure for CPU platform software, including firmware, operating systems, toolchains, and runtime services. • End-to-end software validation coverage across pre-silicon simulation, emulation platforms, and silicon hardware environments. • Development of automated validation frameworks and regression infrastructure supporting large-scale software testing. • Debugging and root-cause analysis of complex issues spanning firmware, operating systems, compilers, and CPU microarchitecture. • Point-of-contact for platform software quality, validation readiness, and system-level debugging across CPU platforms. WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE • Successful validation and software readiness for new CPU silicon generations. • High-quality firmware and operating system enablement validated across diverse workloads and platforms. • Robust automated validation frameworks enabling rapid identification of software and hardware integration issues. • Reduced platform risk through early detection of cross-layer system bugs. • A high-performing software validation engineering team delivering predictable validation coverage aligned with silicon development schedules. REQUIREMENTS — MUST HAVE • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science with 15+ years of experience in system software validation, firmware development, or low-level platform software engineering, and 5+ years managing validation or system software teams. Deep expertise in • C/C++ and low-level programming close to the hardware • CPU architecture (x86, ARM, RISC-V, or similar) • Firmware and operating system interactions with hardware • System software validation methodologies and testing frameworks • Debugging complex cross-layer issues involving hardware and software Additional experience • Hands-on experience validating platform software for silicon products, including firmware, kernel software, and runtime environments. • Extensive experience validating CPU power management, limits management, and DVFS mechanisms. • Proven experience developing automated regression frameworks and validation infrastructure. • Experience diagnosing complex issues spanning firmware, operating systems, compilers, and CPU hardware platforms. • Experience supporting silicon bring-up and early hardware validation. Toolchain & development environment experience Experience with development environments and tools including: • Git, GitHub, GitLab • LLVM, GCC or similar compiler toolchains • JTAG debuggers and hardware emulators • Software simulators and instruction-level trace systems • On-chip telemetry and performance monitoring infrastructure • Continuous integration and automated testing systems System software expertise Strong Linux experience including: • kernel modules • kernel boot process • process and thread scheduling • virtual memory and paging • interrupts and exception handling • system calls and synchronization primitives (spinlocks, mutexes, RCU) Architecture expertise • Experience with x86, ARM64, or RISC-V ISA and ability to read and analyze compiler-generated and hand-written assembly. Communication • Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical issues clearly through written reports, presentations, and verbal briefings to diverse audiences including engineering leadership. REQUIREMENTS — NICE TO HAVE CPU Security & Platform Protection • Experience validating CPU security technologies including secure boot, root-of-trust, trusted execution environments, and confidential computing • Familiarity with platform security validation methodologies and vulnerability analysis. Boot & Firmware Technologies • Experience with modern boot technologies such as UEFI, ACPI, firmware update frameworks, and platform initialization flows. • Experience validating firmware responsible for memory training, device initialization, and runtime platform services. Observability & Performance Analysis Experience with tools and frameworks such as: • perf • eBPF • kernel tracing frameworks • platform telemetry and observability systems Platform & Ecosystem Experience • Experience validating software across server, client, hyperscale, or high-performance computing platforms with emphasis on data center environments • Experience collaborating directly with CPU architecture teams to validate new processor capabilities. • Prior leadership role in system software validation at a semiconductor or systems company.