Hardware Engineer - Circuit Design (Italy based)

About Us

Axelera AI is not your regular deep-tech startup. We are creating the next-generation AI platform to support anyone who wants to help advancing humanity and improve the world around us.

In just four years, we have raised a total of $120 million and have built a world-class team of 220+ employees (including 49+ PhDs with more than 40,000 citations), both remotely from 17 different countries and with offices in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, the UK, headquartered at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

We have also launched our Metis™ AI Platform, which achieves a 3-5x increase in efficiency and performance, and have visibility into a strong business pipeline exceeding $100 million.

Our unwavering commitment to innovation has firmly established us as a global industry pioneer.

Are you up for the challenge?

Position Overview

We are seeking a Senior/Staff Circuit Designer to play a critical role in the electronic design and development of advanced AI accelerators products, such as cards and board computer, with a focus on ARM and x86-based architectures.

This role requires a visionary leader with deep technical expertise to drive innovation, provide strategic technical leadership, and mentor team members while executing hands-on design responsibilities. As a Staff Circuit Designer, you will contribute directly to defining and realising cutting-edge solutions that are central to our product portfolio.

Key responsibilities:

• System Architecture: Lead architecture definition for products using Axelera AI accelerators and ARM/x86 compute boards. Drive tech decisions for competitive differentiation.

• Schematic Design: Convert architectures into detailed schematics; guide teams and suppliers to deliver reliable, standards-compliant designs.

• Advanced Board Design: Collaborate with Silicon, Layout, Mechanical, Thermal, and Validation teams to optimize high-speed digital designs (LPDDR4+, PCIe 3.0+) and demanding PDNs (<1 V, high-current). Ensure balanced SI/PI/thermal/manufacturing performance.

• Component Selection: Identify and choose key components (regulators, processors, memory, interfaces), balancing performance, cost, and supply chain constraints; work with suppliers and Sourcing.

• Verification & Testing: Oversee SI/PI simulations and lab validation. Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions.

• Technical Leadership: Mentor engineers and coordinate cross-functional development across hardware, silicon, software, mechanical, thermal and product teams.

• Documentation: Produce clear specifications, test plans, and reports; present concepts and results internally and to customers.

• Innovation: Track emerging GPU/AI/compute-board technologies and promote advanced design methodologies and product differentiation.

• Prototyping: Develop prototypes and PoCs through EMS partners to validate architecture choices.

Qualifications:

• Education: MSc in Electrical Engineering (PhD a plus).

• Experience: 10+ years in circuit design with leadership in GPU, accelerator, or ARM/x86 board development; proven delivery of complex products.

• Technical Skills:
  – Mastery of hardware/layout tools (Altium, OrCAD, Xpedition).
  – Strong SI/PI expertise (LPDDR4+, PCIe, UFS, USB, low-voltage/high-current PDN). Experience with HyperLynx, ADS, Sigrity is a plus.
  – Thermal-aware hardware design; deep knowledge of processors, memories, interfaces.
  – DFT/DFM proficiency; hands-on lab skills (oscilloscopes, multimeters, soldering). TDR/VNA and scripting a plus.
  – Understanding of standards and designing for EMC/safety compliance.

• Problem Solving: Skilled in debugging complex issues and applying DOE for root-cause identification.

• Leadership & Communication: Highly organized, independent, strong team leader and mentor with excellent communication across technical and non-technical groups.

• Adaptability: Able to manage multiple projects, meet tight deadlines, and collaborate across distributed teams.

• Languages: Fluent spoken and written English.

Location

We offer a flexible working arrangement, with options to:

• Work from one of our Axelera AI offices in Italy (Milan or Florence) if you're already based in the vicinity.

• Work fully remotely from Italy.

• Relocate with us and work from Italy (Florence or Milan) or remote.

Please note that we do not offer new visa/work permit sponsorship for this opportunity in Italy at this time.

What we offer 

This is your chance to shape and be part of a dynamic, fast-growing, international organization. We offer an attractive compensation package, including a pension plan, extensive employee insurances and the option to get company shares.

An open culture that supports creativity and continual innovation is awaiting you. Collaborative ownership and freedom with responsibility is characteristic for the way we act and work as a team. 

At Axelera AI, we wholeheartedly embrace equal opportunity and hold diversity in the highest regard. Our steadfast commitment is to cultivate a warm and inclusive environment that empowers and celebrates every member of our team. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds to join us in shaping the future of AI.