Staff, PCIe Validation Engineer

At Tenstorrent, we are building cutting-edge AI/ML compute platforms, and high-speed interface validation is crucial to our success. We are looking for a Senior PCIe Validation Engineer with Firmware Expertise to play a key role in validating next gen PCIe interfaces, ensuring robust performance and seamless integration across hardware, firmware, and software layers.

In this role, you will bridge the gap between hardware validation and low-level firmware integration, working to validate, debug, and optimize PCIe interfaces at both the controller and PHY levels, from pre-silicon through to production.

This role is on-site, based out of Toronto, Canada.

We welcome candidates at various experience levels for this role. During the interview process, candidates will be assessed for the appropriate level, and offers will align with that level, which may differ from the one in this posting.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute comprehensive test plans for next-generation PCIe interfaces, validating PHY/PCS behavior, LTSSM states, equalization, lane margining, and signal integrity. Leverage lab equipment (e.g., oscilloscopes, BERTs, protocol analyzers) for root cause analysis and ensure compliance with PCI-SIG specifications.
• Collaborate with firmware teams to integrate and validate PCIe controller and PHY initialization, including SerDes bring-up, training sequences, and power management.
• Develop and debug firmware APIs for error handling, performance monitoring, and recovery flows.
• Triage and resolve complex issues across hardware, firmware, and software layers using tools such as ITP/JTAG, Scan Chain, and UEFI Shell. Drive root-cause analysis for link failures, power state transitions, and system enumeration errors.
• Validate interoperability with a broad range of PCIe devices and platforms, tuning configuration parameters like bifurcation and payload size. Participate in PCI-SIG compliance workshops to ensure alignment with industry standards.

Experience & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical or Computer Engineering with experience in high-speed interface validation, focusing on PCIe and firmware-level debugging
• Strong knowledge of PCIe protocol (TLPs, DLLPs, PHY behavior, ECNs)
• Experience in silicon bring-up, pre-boot firmware development, or UEFI/BIOS-level configuration for PCIe
• Expertise in PCIe power management, ASPM, and BIOS-level link tuning
• Experience debugging low-level hardware-firmware interactions with tools like ITP, JTAG, BIOS Setup, Serial Debug, and pre-boot environments
• Strong programming skills in C/C++ for embedded firmware development
• Experience with multi-die chiplets and chip-to-chip interconnects in PCIe systems
• Exposure to validation and debugging of non-PCIe interfaces (e.g., Ethernet, memory interfaces)
• Familiarity with automation frameworks and continuous integration for validation pipelines
• Background in working with PCIe security features (e.g., secure boot, link encryption)
• Exposure to CI/CD pipelines and automation infrastructures.
• Exposure to low level FW development for RISC-V

Tenstorrent offers a highly competitive compensation package and benefits, and we are an equal opportunity employer.

Due to U.S. Export Control laws and regulations, Tenstorrent is required to ensure compliance with licensing regulations when transferring technology to nationals of certain countries that have been licensing conditions set  by the U.S. government.

As this position will have direct and/or indirect access to information, systems, or technologies that are subject to U.S. Export Control laws and regulations, please note that citizenship/permanent residency, asylee and refugee information and supporting documentation will be required and considered as a condition of employment.

If a U.S. export license is required, employment will not begin until a license with acceptable conditions is granted by the U.S. government.  If a U.S. export license with acceptable conditions is not granted by the U.S. government, then the offer of employment will be rescinded.