Senior Silicon HW Architect for Clock (f/m/div) - Job Opportunity at Infineon Technologies

Cork, Ireland
Full-time
Senior
Posted: June 10, 2025
On-site
EUR 85,000 - 120,000 per year based on Ireland's competitive semiconductor market, Infineon's position as a Fortune 500 company, and the specialized nature of automotive clock architecture expertise

Benefits

Comprehensive diversity and inclusion programs that foster innovation through multicultural collaboration and equal opportunity advancement
Professional development opportunities within a global semiconductor leader driving decarbonization and digitalization initiatives
Access to cutting-edge technology platforms in power systems and IoT solutions with significant market impact
Inclusive working environment characterized by trust, openness, respect and tolerance that enables ambitious goal achievement
Flexible accommodation support for interview processes and workplace accessibility needs

Key Responsibilities

Drive strategic clock architecture definition across multiple Automotive Microcontroller platforms, directly impacting product competitiveness and market positioning
Lead cross-functional technical teams including IP and SoC development groups to ensure customer KPI achievement and platform success
Execute stakeholder requirement analysis and translate complex application needs into actionable block-based architectural specifications
Spearhead power optimization initiatives through innovative clock architecture design, enabling products to meet stringent automotive power targets
Champion technical innovation in clock components by leveraging market intelligence and industry trends to maintain competitive advantage
Create comprehensive technical documentation ecosystem that serves as the foundation for platform development and customer engagement
Establish strategic partnerships with Technical Marketing and Design teams to drive product differentiation and market penetration
Ensure architectural quality standards and performance benchmarks that directly influence customer satisfaction and business growth

Requirements

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field

Experience

At least 5 years of relevant work experience in a similar role within the semiconductor or automotive industry

Required Skills

Strong knowledge of microcontroller architecture and analog mixed-signal design Proven experience in creating and maintaining technical documentation Familiarity with functional safety standards and their application Proven ability to work effectively in multicultural environments Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams Fluent English language skills, both written and spoken
Advertisement
Ad Space

Sauge AI Market Intelligence

Industry Trends

The automotive semiconductor market is experiencing unprecedented growth driven by electric vehicle adoption and autonomous driving technologies, with clock architecture becoming critical for managing complex power states and real-time processing requirements. This trend is creating significant demand for specialized hardware architects who can balance performance with power efficiency. Functional safety standards like ISO 26262 are becoming increasingly stringent in automotive applications, requiring clock architects to design fail-safe timing systems that can operate reliably in safety-critical scenarios. This regulatory evolution is driving demand for professionals with deep understanding of both hardware design and safety compliance. The shift toward software-defined vehicles is placing new demands on clock distribution systems, requiring architects to design flexible timing infrastructures that can support over-the-air updates and dynamic reconfiguration without compromising system stability or safety.

Role Significance

Typically interfaces with 15-25 professionals across IP development, SoC design, technical marketing, and customer engineering teams, serving as the central technical authority for clock architecture decisions
This is a senior individual contributor role with significant technical leadership responsibilities, involving strategic decision-making that impacts multiple product platforms and cross-functional team guidance without direct management duties

Key Projects

Multi-generation automotive microcontroller platform development with 3-5 year product lifecycles Cross-platform clock IP standardization initiatives affecting multiple product families Customer-specific clock architecture customization for tier-1 automotive suppliers Next-generation power management integration projects combining clock and power domains

Success Factors

Deep technical expertise in clock distribution, phase-locked loops, and timing closure across complex SoC architectures, combined with the ability to translate theoretical knowledge into practical automotive-grade solutions Strategic thinking capability to anticipate future automotive trends and architect scalable clock solutions that can evolve with changing market requirements while maintaining backward compatibility Cross-cultural communication excellence enabling effective collaboration across Infineon's global development teams and diverse customer base in the automotive industry Innovation leadership skills to drive breakthrough clock architecture concepts while balancing technical risk with competitive market positioning

Market Demand

High demand driven by automotive electrification trends, the critical nature of clock architecture in modern SoCs, and the limited pool of professionals with combined automotive and semiconductor expertise

Important Skills

Critical Skills

Microcontroller architecture knowledge is absolutely essential as modern automotive SoCs integrate dozens of processing cores, accelerators, and peripherals that must be synchronized through sophisticated clock distribution networks. Deep understanding of timing closure, clock domain crossing, and hierarchical clock tree synthesis directly impacts product success. Analog mixed-signal expertise is crucial because clock generation involves sensitive analog circuits like PLLs and VCOs that must operate reliably across automotive temperature and voltage ranges while meeting strict jitter and phase noise requirements that affect overall system performance. Technical documentation skills are vital in this role because clock architecture decisions must be clearly communicated across multiple engineering teams, preserved for future product generations, and serve as the foundation for customer engineering support and regulatory compliance documentation.

Beneficial Skills

Power management expertise is increasingly valuable as automotive applications demand sophisticated power states and dynamic voltage/frequency scaling capabilities that must be tightly coordinated with clock architecture decisions Software development skills are becoming more important as clock configuration becomes more software-defined, requiring architects to understand how firmware and software interact with clock control registers and power management units Regulatory knowledge beyond functional safety, including EMC/EMI requirements and automotive qualification standards, provides significant value in designing clock systems that can pass stringent automotive certification processes

Unique Aspects

This role combines the technical depth of clock architecture with the strategic breadth of platform definition, offering exposure to both cutting-edge semiconductor design and automotive market dynamics
The position provides direct influence on multiple product generations simultaneously, creating opportunities to see long-term strategic decisions manifest in successful market products
Infineon's strong automotive market position means architectural decisions directly impact major automotive programs, providing visibility into next-generation vehicle development trends
The multicultural team environment offers unique opportunities to understand diverse automotive market requirements across different global regions

Career Growth

3-5 years to principal architect level, 5-8 years to technical management roles, depending on leadership development and market opportunities

Potential Next Roles

Principal Hardware Architect roles leading entire platform architecture teams Technical Program Manager positions overseeing multi-product development initiatives Customer Engineering Director roles managing strategic automotive partnerships CTO track positions within automotive semiconductor startups or established players

Company Overview

Infineon Technologies

Infineon Technologies ranks among the top 10 global semiconductor companies with particular strength in automotive, industrial, and power management markets. The company's automotive semiconductor division holds significant market share in microcontrollers, power semiconductors, and sensor solutions, making it a critical supplier to major automotive OEMs and tier-1 suppliers worldwide.

Infineon maintains a strong competitive position in automotive semiconductors, competing directly with NXP, Renesas, and STMicroelectronics, with particular strength in power efficiency and functional safety implementations that align perfectly with electric vehicle market demands
The Cork, Ireland facility serves as a significant R&D hub for Infineon's automotive microcontroller development, providing access to both European automotive customers and the broader global market while benefiting from Ireland's favorable business environment and skilled technical workforce
Infineon emphasizes technical excellence combined with collaborative innovation, offering engineers significant autonomy in technical decision-making while providing strong support for professional development and cross-functional learning opportunities
Advertisement
Ad Space
Apply Now

Data Sources & Analysis Information

Job Listings Data

The job listings displayed on this platform are sourced through BrightData's comprehensive API, ensuring up-to-date and accurate job market information.

Sauge AI Market Intelligence

Our advanced AI system analyzes each job listing to provide valuable insights including:

  • Industry trends and market dynamics
  • Salary estimates and market demand analysis
  • Role significance and career growth potential
  • Critical success factors and key skills
  • Unique aspects of each position

This integration of reliable job data with AI-powered analysis helps provide you with comprehensive insights for making informed career decisions.