Senior CPU Architecture and Benchmarking Engineer
Intel· Semiconductors· Oct 2, 2026 · 26d ago
US, Oregon, Hillsboro
In office
Full-time
Senior
$191K–$269K
8+ years exp
Job description
Job Details:
Job Description: About the Role Join Intel s architecture team as a Senior CPU Architecture and Benchmarking Engineer. You will drive rigorous, low-level investigations into CPU designs, crafting targeted microbenchmarks that expose microarchitectural behavior at fine granularity and translating those findings into actionable architectural guidance. Your work will bridge the gap between silicon measurement, software behavior, and architectural definition, playing a key role in shaping Intel s future CPU roadmap.
Key Responsibilities Design, implement, and analyze pinpointed microbenchmarks to explore and characterize low-level microarchitectural behavior including branch prediction, instruction fetch/decode, execution units, memory subsystem, prefetchers, and power delivery interactions
Investigate and document microarchitectural details of CPU designs through systematic benchmarking and analysis
Evaluate the impact of system software layers — including OS schedulers, runtime libraries, compilers, and firmware — on end-product CPU performance and power efficiency
Identify power/performance gaps and propose concrete architectural solutions and mitigations
Collaborate with silicon lab, simulation, backend, and RTL teams to correlate benchmarking findings with pre-silicon models and post-silicon measurements
Explore and evaluate proposed microarchitectural ideas in CPU performance simulators, providing quantitative measure of value
Develop and maintain tooling, test infrastructure, and analysis frameworks to support repeatable and scalable benchmarking workflows
Communicate technical findings clearly and persuasively in written reports and presentations to senior engineering and product teams
To Be Successful in This Role, You Should Demonstrate Intellectual curiosity and a systematic mindset when investigating complex microarchitectural behavior, with the rigor to design experiments that yield clear, reproducible conclusions
Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across silicon, simulation, and software teams to align findings and drive architectural decisions
The ability to communicate complex technical findings with clarity and confidence to both engineering peers and senior leadership audiences
Qualifications: Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline with 8 years of relevant industry experience, OR a Master s Degree in a related discipline with 6 years of relevant industry experience
Deep understanding of out-of-order CPU microarchitecture, including pipeline stages, execution resources, memory hierarchy, and power/performance interactions
Demonstrated experience designing and interpreting low-level microbenchmarks for CPU characterization
Proficiency in assembly programming and low-level performance tooling (e.g., EMON/PMU counters, VTune, or equivalent)
Strong background in performance analysis methodologies, bottleneck identification, and quantitative trade-off evaluation
Proficiency in C/C and scripting languages (Python or similar) for benchmark development and data analysis
Preferred Qualifications
Familiarity with cycle-accurate CPU performance simulators and the ability to model and evaluate new microarchitectural features
Understanding of software stack impacts on CPU performance, including OS scheduler behavior, memory allocators, compiler code generation, and BIOS/firmware tuning
Experience reading or debugging RTL to investigate microarchitectural behavior or validate benchmark hypotheses
Track record of translating benchmarking insights into concrete architectural recommendations or published technical contributions
Job Type: Experienced Hire
Shift: Shift 1 (United States of America)
Primary Location: US, Oregon, Hillsboro
Additional Locations:
Posting Statement: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance. Position of Trust N/A
Benefits
We offer a total compensation package that ranks among the best in the industry. It consists of competitive pay, stock bonuses, and benefit programs which include health, retirement, and vacation. Find out more about the benefits of working at Intel .
Annual Salary Range for jobs which could be performed in the US: $190,610.00-269,100.00 USD
The range displayed on this job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target compensation for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific compensation range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
Work Model for this Role
This role will require an on-site presence. * Job posting details (such as work model, location or time type) are subject to change.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Intel is committed to Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) compliance and ethical hiring practices. We do not charge any fees during our hiring process. Candidates should never be required to pay recruitment fees, medical examination fees, or any other charges as a condition of employment. If you are asked to pay any fees during our hiring process, please report this immediately to your recruiter.
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