AI Inference Chip Architect at Foundation

Compensation

$80,000 – $1,000,000/yr

Setup: Hybrid
Location: San Francisco, California
Type: Full-time
Posted: Dec 2, 2025

Description

Foundation is seeking an experienced AI Inference Chip Architect to evaluate and design custom inference chips for robotics. The role involves analyzing bottlenecks in robotic inference pipelines, developing performance models, defining chip architecture, and guiding early design exploration. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in AI accelerators, hardware/software co-design, and ASIC/FPGA development, with a focus on real-time, low-power systems. This position requires leadership skills to translate technical insights into executive recommendations and potentially lead custom IC design projects. The company emphasizes a culture of directness, technical proficiency, and a strong commitment to its mission of developing general-purpose robotics to address labor shortages.

Required Skills

AI accelerators
neural network inference engines
signal processing hardware
hardware/software co-design
embedded compute tradeoffs
RTL design
Verilog/VHDL/SystemVerilog
ASIC/FPGA development
AI inference workloads

Additional Information

Minimum Education: M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
Required Previous Experiences: 8+ years of experience in digital IC design, SoC architecture, or ASIC/FPGA development, with demonstrated ability to own projects autonomously.
Preferred Qualifications: Experience in robotics, autonomous systems, edge computing, or similar high-stakes environments where scrappiness was key to success.
Familiarity with low-power design, mixed-signal integration, hardware security, chip bring-up, verification, and validation.
Prior collaboration with foundries, ASIC vendors, or design houses in resource-constrained settings.