{"id":449289,"url":"https://alion.io/job/foundation-principal-compute-architect","title":"Principal Compute Architect","company":{"id":173517,"name":"Foundation","domain":"foundation.bot","url":"https://alion.io/company/foundation-3","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Rippling","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":25,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":197,"computed_at":"2026-10-27T05:46:45Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":210000,"max":400000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":400000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Sensor Fusion","optional":false},{"name":"SystemVerilog","optional":false},{"name":"Verilog","optional":false},{"name":"VHDL","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2025-12-02T20:32:45Z","employer_posted_date":"2025-12-02","last_verified_at":"2026-10-27T21:27:41Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":329,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":328},"description":"About Us\nFoundation is developing the future of general purpose robotics with the goal to address the labor shortage.\nOur mission is to create advanced robots that can operate in complex environments, reducing human risk in conflict zones and enhancing efficiency in labor-intensive industries.\nWe are on the lookout for extraordinary engineers and scientists to join our team.\nYour previous experience in robotics isn't a prerequisite - it's your talent and determination that truly count.\nWe expect that many of our team members will bring diverse perspectives from various industries and fields. We are looking for individuals with a proven record of exceptional ability and a history of creating things that work.\nOur Culture\nWe like to be frank and honest about who we are, so that people can decide for themselves if this is a culture they resonate with. Please read more about our culture here https://foundation.bot/culture.\nWho should join:\nYou like working in person with a team in San Francisco.\nYou deeply believe that this is the most important mission for humanity and needs to happen yesterday.\nYou are highly technical - regardless of the role you are in. We are building technology; you need to understand technology well.\nYou care about aesthetics and design inside out. If it's not the best product ever, it bothers you, and you need to “fix” it.\nYou don't need someone to motivate you; you get things done.\n Why are We Hiring for this Role:\nLeading a structured evaluation of technical and business feasibility for a custom inference chip tailored to robotic workloads.\nAnalyzing current bottlenecks in robotic inference pipelines and comparing off-the-shelf vs. custom alternatives.\nDeveloping models for performance, cost, scalability, power, and area to inform build-vs-buy decisions.\nDefining high-level chip architecture optimized for low-latency, real-time systems (e.g., CNNs, transformers, sensor fusion).\nEvaluating tradeoffs in dataflow, memory hierarchy, interconnects, and hardware/software interfaces.\nGuiding RTL prototyping, simulation, and early design exploration.\nCoordinating with external vendors, foundries, or design houses as needed.\nDelivering a comprehensive report with recommendations, including technical/financial analysis and risk/benefit tradeoffs.\nPresenting findings to leadership and, if approved, leading early custom IC design and project planning.\nWhat Kind of Person We Are Looking For:\nProven track record in designing or evaluating AI accelerators, neural network inference engines, or signal processing hardware, with a history of delivering end-to-end projects.\nDeep expertise in hardware/software co-design, embedded compute tradeoffs, and optimizing for real-time, low-power systems.\nHands-on experience with RTL design (Verilog/VHDL/SystemVerilog), simulation, synthesis tools, and ASIC/FPGA development.\nAbility to model and evaluate AI inference workloads, including performance bottlenecks and architectural tradeoffs.\nStrong leadership and communication skills to translate complex technical insights into actionable executive recommendations.\nExperience in robotics, autonomous systems, edge computing, or similar high-stakes environments where scrappiness was key to success.\nFamiliarity with low-power design, mixed-signal integration, hardware security, chip bring-up, verification, and validation.\nPrior collaboration with foundries, ASIC vendors, or design houses in resource-constrained settings.\nM.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.\n8+ years of experience in digital IC design, SoC architecture, or ASIC/FPGA development, with demonstrated ability to own projects autonomously.\nBenefits\nWe provide market standard benefits (health, vision, dental, 401k, etc.). Join us for the culture and the mission, not for the benefits.\nSalary\nThe annual compensation is expected to be between $210,000.00 - $400,000.00 Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4000,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Industrial Robotics","Humanoid Robots"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-06T08:14:21Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":24,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.677,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":328,"expected_fill_days":197,"reasons":["conf:2","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-27T05:46:45Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":400000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/foundation-principal-compute-architect","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/foundation-principal-compute-architect.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-28T01:49:32Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2455,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-29T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":173517},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=173517"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Ffoundation-principal-compute-architect"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Ffoundation-principal-compute-architect"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Ffoundation-principal-compute-architect"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/foundation-principal-compute-architect\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Ffoundation-principal-compute-architect"}]}