CPU Design Architect / Principal Digital Design Engineer at Baidu USA (Sunnyvale, CA)

Baidu USA· Sunnyvale, CA·1d ago

Job description

Job Description: Design cost effective controller with high performance, low power and small area for cellular modem. This position will work with multi-nation teams in leading-edge process node and be involved in:

Perform CPU development and design integration for MIPS CPU subsystem.
Explore latest technologies and be responsible for conducting fundamental research on new directions in CPU architecture
Contribute ideas for advanced CPU performance features - analyze workloads in details, identify performance bottlenecks and opportunities, bring a data driven approach to tradeoffs in CPU design, derive architecture and micro-architecture to design/model implantation team, and bring ideas to successful silicon

Minimum Qualifications:

Master Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or Computer Engineering.
At least 5 years of CPU related Architect/RTL/Verification/Implementation design experience
Knowledge and practical experience with common RISC CPU architecture.
Familiarity with chip digital design flow, including RTL integration, simulation, STA.
Understanding of high performance techniques and trade-offs in a CPU microarchitecture
Ability to problem solve and prove own ideas

Preferred Qualifications:

PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or Computer Engineering is a PLUS
8+ years of CPU related Architect/RTL/Verification/Implementation design experience
Strong CPU architecture knowledge and micro-architecture knowledge
Familiarity with Symmetric Multi-processing (SMP) and Snoop-based multi-processor architecture.
Familiarity with synthesis, power analysis and post silicon debugging
Cross-site working experience is a PLUS.
Common knowledge in modeling/DV/OS is a PLUS.
Experience with Foundry, Post-Silicon, FPGA, DVT, SLT debug is a PLUS.

Why work at Baidu USA

Culture: “Nimbleness of a startup” with resources of a global tech giant; elite researchers and engineers work on “change-the-world” AI projects.
Work Environment: Hybrid/office presence across three US locations (Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Bellevue). Specific remote policy not disclosed.
Impact: Work on AI systems deployed to hundreds of millions of users (Baidu’s core products) and cutting-edge hardware that powers next-gen AI.
Notable Perks: Not explicitly listed, but typical for a global R&D center includes competitive compensation, equity (via Baidu), and exposure to cross-border technology development.

About Baidu USA

Company Overview

One-liner: Baidu USA is the Silicon Valley R&D center of Baidu, China’s largest search engine, focused on cutting-edge AI research, autonomous driving, and global business development.
Entity Type: Public subsidiary of Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU)
Headquarters: Mountain View, California, USA (with additional offices in Bellevue, WA and Sunnyvale, CA)
Founded: 2014
Founders: Baidu was founded by Robin Li and Eric Xu; Baidu USA operates as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Core Business

Primary Industries: Artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, cloud computing, digital advertising, and hardware design (CPU/GPU/SoC).
Target Customers: B2B (advertisers, enterprise AI solutions), B2C (through Baidu’s consumer products), and internal R&D for Baidu’s global ecosystem.
Mission: “To make a complicated world simpler through technology.”

Products & Services

Baidu Research US: Conducts fundamental AI research in deep learning, computer vision, speech recognition, and NLP.
Intelligent Driving Group (IDG) US: Develops Apollo autonomous driving platform and related hardware/software.
Baidu Global Business Unit: Manages MediaGo (AI-powered advertising platform for global app advertisers) and other international ad sales.
Xingyun US: Silicon Valley hardware design center focused on CPU/GPU/SoC architecture for AI and autonomous driving.
Baidu AI Cloud: Cloud services with AI capabilities (noted as a category, though US-specific offerings may be limited).

Market Standing

Valuation/Market Cap: Baidu, Inc. market cap ~$30–40 billion (as of mid-2025); Baidu USA is a subsidiary with no separate public valuation.
Key Metric: Headcount of 77 employees (+2.1% YoY); active job postings increased 180% YoY (14 current openings).
Notable Investors/Partners: Baidu, Inc. (parent); partnerships with global advertisers, automotive OEMs, and hardware vendors.
Growth Signals: Rapid expansion in hardware engineering roles (CPU/GPU/SoC), 40% quarterly increase in job postings, new office in Bellevue, WA, and growing global advertising business (MediaGo).

Competitive Advantages

Access to Baidu’s massive data, compute resources, and decades of AI expertise—combined with the agility of a small Silicon Valley team.
Strong talent pipeline from top universities (Stanford, UC Santa Barbara) and alumni network at Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and ByteDance.
Unique position bridging US innovation with Baidu’s vast Chinese market and ecosystem.

Strategic Focus

AI Hardware: Building custom CPU/GPU/SoC designs for machine learning and autonomous driving.
Autonomous Driving: Advancing Apollo platform through US-based R&D and partnerships.
Global Advertising: Scaling MediaGo to capture international app advertiser spend.
Talent Acquisition: Aggressively hiring hardware architects, AI researchers, and business development managers to expand US footprint.

Sources

Job description

Why work at Baidu USA

Application questions