ASIC Design Engineer — Neural Engine DMA

ASIC Design Engineer — Neural Engine DMA

Computational photography, live language translation, and countless other on-device AI capabilities depend on moving enormous amounts of data between memory and compute at exactly the right time. As part of our Silicon Engineering Group, you will own the design of high-performance DMA engines responsible for moving model weights and activation tensors between the memory subsystem and the Apple Neural Engine. In this role, you will take end-to-end ownership of DMA subsystem blocks and collaborate closely with architecture and verification teams across the full front-end design cycle.

The work you deliver ships in Apple products used by billions of people every day.

As an ASIC Design Engineer on the ANE DMA Design team, you will own the design of DMA subsystem blocks from microarchitecture specification through tapeout. ANE DMA's scale and complexity means grappling with: fetch sequencing, out-of-order response management, memory system back-pressure, address translation integration, and pipeline hazard resolution. In this front-end design role, your work will include:

• Taking end-to-end ownership of DMA blocks through the full cycle: microarchitecture specification, RTL implementation, front-end signoff (synthesis, timing closure, area and power analysis, linting, LEC), and design verification closure.
• Writing well-parameterized RTL structured for correct synthesis, clean timing, and low power, along with assertions and cover points that encode design intent and ensure verification completeness.
• Collaborating with fellow designers, architecture, and physical implementation teams to explore microarchitectural trade-offs and drive solutions that meet performance, power, and area targets.
• Working closely with design verification and formal verification teams to ensure functional correctness: reviewing test plans, debugging failures, and ensuring the design's intended behavior is fully exercised.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree plus 3 years of industry experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing SoC front-end RTL in Verilog or System Verilog through at least one tapeout, including tasks such as synthesis, timing closure, area and power analysis, linting, and logic equivalence checks.
• Experience designing DMA microarchitecture: address sequencing, flow control, arbitration, or transaction ordering.
• Experience with on-chip bus protocols (AMBA AXI, AHB, APB) and on-chip interconnect fabrics.
• Background in adjacent domains: hardware compression, networking SoCs, image and video processing, multimedia, or AI/ML accelerators.
• Experience writing precise micro-architectural specifications.
• Familiarity with scripting languages (Python, Perl, Tcl) for design automation.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $150,400 and $277,600, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple's discretionary employee stock programs.

Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple's Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You'll also receive benefits including:
Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation.