Staff DFT DV Engineer, AI Hardware

What To Expect
The Tesla AI Hardware team is at the forefront of revolutionizing artificial intelligence through cutting-edge hardware innovation. Comprising brilliant engineers and visionaries, the team designs and develops advanced AI inference chips tailored to accelerate Tesla’s machine learning capabilities. A key part of this effort is Dojo, Tesla's custom supercomputer system built to efficiently train massive neural networks on vast video data from the fleet. The work of Tesla's AI Hardware team powers the neural networks behind Full Self-Driving (FSD), and Tesla humanoid robot, Optimus, pushing the boundaries of computational efficiency and performance. By creating custom silicon and optimized architectures, the team ensures Tesla remains a leader in AI-driven automotive and energy solutions, shaping a future where intelligent machines enhance human life.

Tesla's AI hardware team is seeking a highly motivated ASIC RTL Design Engineer with a specialization in the mathematical and computational aspects of custom AI accelerators. You will focus on designing high-performance, power-efficient RTL for math-intensive components that power our AI training and inference systems. This role emphasizes expertise in tensor operations, matrix computations, and optimized data paths for advanced AI workloads. This role is located in Palo Alto, CA or Austin, TX. If you are passionate about pushing the boundaries of low-precision arithmetic, quantization techniques, and hardware acceleration for machine learning, this is your opportunity to contribute to revolutionary AI hardware.

Our Silicon Engineering team validates DFT features from RTL through silicon bring-up — ensuring test structures work correctly before the chip reaches the tester. As a Staff DFT DV Engineer, you will own functional verification of all DFT structures at block and SoC level, delivering pre-Si testcases that directly enable silicon debug and ATE correlation.

What You'll Do

Develop SystemVerilog/UVM testbenches to verify DFT features — SSN, compressed scan, memory BIST, JTAG, and boundary scan at block and SoC level
Verify top-level DFT features — power-on self-test, clock observation, clock stop, and scan dump
Run DV regressions, analyze coverage, triage and debug failures to closure
Identify design fixes and validate DFT RTL corrections
Deliver pre-Si DV testcases for silicon bring-up and ATE correlation
Own post-silicon ATE test correlation — root cause discrepancies between pre-Si and silicon behavior
Leverage agentic AI flows to automate regression execution, coverage analysis, and failure triage


What You'll Bring

Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience
10+ years of DFT DV experience at block and SoC level
Expert-level SystemVerilog and UVM testbench development
Hands-on verification of SSN, compressed scan, MBIST, JTAG, and boundary scan
Experience delivering pre-Si testcases through silicon bring-up and ATE correlation
Ability to use agentic AI flows to automate DV regression and debug workflows
Post-silicon debug and ATE correlation experience on server-class SoCs
Familiarity with formal verification methods for DFT structural checks
Experience with power-on self-test and clock control verification


Benefits
Compensation and Benefits
Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:
Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
Employee Assistance Program
Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
Tesla Babies program
Commuter benefits
Employee discounts and perks program


Expected Compensation

$128,000 - $312,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits

Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

, Tesla
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