--- title: 'Hardware Engineer, System Design at Normal Computing Corporation' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-engineer-system-design-normal-computing-corporation-silicon-valley-ewmb4smy3n8k' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-10' --- # Hardware Engineer, System Design at Normal Computing Corporation - **Company:** Normal Computing Corporation - **Location:** Silicon Valley - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-09-10 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/normalcomputing/4a991e16-7097-461c-b048-8d9c97cb33c1 ## Job description Normal Computing | Build with Us Normal is an applied AI company solving the hardest problems in AI and silicon. We build foundational hardware and software for the semiconductor industry, critical AI infrastructure, and the broader systems that power our world, in partnership with the world's most advanced institutions. We work as one team across New York City, Silicon Valley (Mountain View), London, Copenhagen, and Seoul. ## The Role As a Hardware System Design Engineer, you will lead the system architecture design of Normal’s AI compute hardware end-to-end, from initial concept to specification, design reviews, integration, and deployment. You will guide system-level decisions spanning boards, chassis, interconnects, and rack-scale system design, collaborating closely across hardware, software, and other engineering teams to ensure system designs meet performance and workload requirements. You’ll define system requirements and specifications, evaluate architectural options, and drive key technical decisions as our hardware platforms evolve. You’ll evaluate partner and vendor designs against our requirements, identify technical gaps and schedule risks early, and lead system-level tradeoffs. You’ll play a central role in bringing these pieces together into cohesive, high-performance AI compute systems and driving the overall system from architecture through deployment. ## What You Will Own - Lead hardware system architecture from initial concept and requirements through design reviews, integration, and production deployment. - Translate workload and performance requirements into hardware decisions, working closely with cross-functional teams and external partners. - Lead architecture design across boards, chassis, and racks, including system topology, power, thermal, scale-up and scale-out fabrics, and networking. - Define and own bring-up, system integration, validation and qualification strategy. What Makes You a Great Fit - Significant experience architecting complex compute hardware systems, spanning server or machine-level designs through rack-scale platforms - Experience taking hardware systems from early requirements and architecture through specification, integration, bring-up, validation, and production deployment - Experience working with ODMs, suppliers, and other hardware partners, including reviewing designs, defining technical requirements, and driving technical issues to resolution - Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field Bonus Points - Experience designing high-performance AI compute systems at server and rack scale - Experience bringing novel hardware architectures into production-scale compute systems - Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field ## Equal Employment Opportunity Statement Normal Computing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. Accessibility Accommodations Normal Computing is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know at accommodations@normalcomputing.com. Privacy Notice By submitting your application, you agree that Normal Computing may collect, use, and store your personal information for employment-related purposes in accordance with our Privacy Policy. ## About Normal Computing Corporation ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Normal Computing builds AI-accelerated EDA software and physics-based ASICs to enable ultra-efficient hardware for the AI era. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series B; total funding $92.5M) - **Headquarters**: New York, New York, USA - **Founded**: 2022 - **Founders**: Faris Sbahi (CEO), Matthias Tan (Co-Founder), and team of former Google Brain/Google X engineers and scientists ## Core Business - Primary industry: Semiconductor design (EDA) and custom silicon (ASICs), powered by AI and probabilistic computing. - Target customers: Large semiconductor design and manufacturing institutions (B2B, enterprise). - Mission: "Rewriting AI foundations to advance the frontier of reasoning and reliability in the physical world" and enabling a virtuous cycle of self-improving AI hardware. ## Products & Services - **[Normal EDA](https://normalcomputing.com/)**: An AI-driven electronic design automation platform that understands design intent from specification documents, generates hierarchical test plans with traceability, creates SystemVerilog stimulus, runs simulations, and tracks coverage. It continuously learns from team feedback to accelerate verification for complex chip designs. - **[Normal ASICs](https://normalcomputing.com/)**: Physics-based custom ASICs that relax traditional computing assumptions (stochastic, stateful, asynchronous) to unlock orders-of-magnitude more efficient compute. Designed to converge hardware with the physical dynamics of AI models. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metric**: **Total Funding** – $92.5M across multiple rounds (Seed, Venture, Grant, Series B). Notable recent round: $50M led by **Samsung Catalyst** in March 2026 [normalcomputing.com](https://normalcomputing.com/). - **Notable Investors**: Samsung Catalyst Fund, Intel Ignite, First Spark Ventures, Celesta Capital, ARIA. Also partners with Fraunhofer IESE (DRAMBench benchmark). - **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew **196.3% YoY** to 54 employees; operates across 6 countries (US, UK, Denmark, Switzerland, India, Canada); actively building open-source tools (e.g., a Verilog simulator built with AI: 580K lines in 43 days). ## Competitive Advantages - **Physics-First Approach**: Unlike traditional digital logic, Normal’s ASICs embrace stochastic, stateful, and asynchronous computing – aligning hardware with the physics of AI models for dramatic efficiency gains. - **Full-Stack Co-Design**: The combination of AI-native EDA tools and custom silicon creates a closed loop where software and hardware are co-optimized, shortening time-to-market and enabling workload-specific ASICs. - **Deep AI Heritage**: Founders and team hail from Google Brain and Google X, bringing deep expertise in probabilistic ML, quantum AI, and physical-world reasoning. ## Strategic Focus - **Scaling EDA Adoption**: Expanding Normal EDA’s use among top semiconductor companies to "make chip design look more like software". - **AI Hardware Energy Crisis**: Tackling soaring power demands of AI by delivering ultra-efficient ASICs that can be produced for every workload. - **Open-Source & Research**: Building community trust through open benchmarks (DRAMBench) and tools (CIRCT-based verification), while advancing formal methods and AI-driven simulation. ## Why Work Here - **Hybrid Workspace**: Flexible in-office collaboration at offices in **New York (Flatiron HQ)**, **San Francisco**, **London**, and **Copenhagen**. In-person collaboration is valued but with flexibility; free lunch, snacks, and beverages in office. - **Lean, High-Impact Team**: Small team (54 employees) where every member drives significant impact, works directly with customers, and owns meaningful parts of the product. - **Interdisciplinary Challenges**: Work spans AI, probabilistic software, hardware, physics, and full-stack engineering – ideal for curious, passionate problem-solvers. - **Strong Growth Trajectory**: Rapid headcount growth (+196% YoY), recent $50M Series B, and partnerships with industry giants signal a well-funded, high-potential startup. ## Sources 1. [normalcomputing.com](https://normalcomputing.com/) 2. [normalcomputing.com/about](https://normalcomputing.com/about) 3. [linkedin.com/company/normal-computing-corporation](https://www.linkedin.com/company/normal-computing-corporation) 4. [builtin.com/company/normal-computing](https://builtin.com/company/normal-computing) 5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/normalcomputing](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/normalcomputing) ## Other roles at Normal Computing Corporation - [Research Engineer, Agentic EDA](https://feeny.ai/job/research-engineer-agentic-eda-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-n9n5s5w4myky) — New York, NY - [Software Engineer, Terminal Interface](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-terminal-interface-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-4wm9d2tfm0ja) — New York, NY - [Talent Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-operations-specialist-normal-computing-corporation-silicon-valley-rj0rjeg87g4x) — Silicon Valley - [Thermodynamic Hardware Resident](https://feeny.ai/job/thermodynamic-hardware-resident-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-jg4avbjrxt43) — New York, NY - [AI Research Resident](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-research-resident-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-44frw5ybhavm) — New York, NY - [Hardware Engineer, Lead Architect](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-engineer-lead-architect-normal-computing-corporation-silicon-valley-6fvq60qmptdw) — Silicon Valley - [Hardware Engineer, FPGA](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-engineer-fpga-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-4v6epje87dne) — New York, NY - [Software Engineer, Agent Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-agent-systems-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-9mc74m2d7yp9) — New York, NY - [Research Engineer, Domain Scaling](https://feeny.ai/job/research-engineer-domain-scaling-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-f308m76kzev4) — New York, NY - [Hardware Engineer, RTL](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-engineer-rtl-normal-computing-corporation-new-york-ea9vqkyz7zey) — New York, NY