Meta
Sunnyvale or Austin
DPU IO Architect, Infrastructure Silicon
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- Location
- Sunnyvale or Austin
- Work type
- Onsite
- Compensation
- $178,000 - $250,000/yr
- Posted
- today
- Apply on
- metacareers.com
About this role
Meta's Infrastructure Silicon organization designs custom silicon that powers our data center infrastructure — SmartNICs/IPUs/DPUs, AI accelerators, and networking ASICs.
We are looking for a Data Processing Unit (DPU) I/O Architect to own the I/O subsystem and the hardware/software interface between our silicon and the software that drives it - PCIe, DMA and offload engines, I/O virtualization, Confidential Computing, and system management. You'll define how the hardware presents itself to firmware and software - the register and programming models, descriptor and doorbell interfaces, and offload interfaces - and decide what belongs in hardware versus firmware versus software. You'll work hand in hand with the firmware, driver, and RTL teams, and carry your designs from early path-finding through implementation and silicon bring-up.
Responsibilities
- Own the I/O subsystem architecture for our DPUs - PCIe, DMA and offload engines, I/O virtualization, confidential computing, and system management -- from early path-finding through silicon bring-up
- Decide what runs in hardware, what runs in firmware, and what stays in host software, and design the interfaces between them
- Define the hardware/software interface - register and programming models, descriptor and doorbell interfaces, error and interrupt models, and the offload interfaces firmware and drivers build on
- Work closely with firmware, driver, and software teams so the interface is clean, efficient, and genuinely usable, and evolve it as their needs change
- Weigh the performance, power, and area trade-offs behind your choices and back them with data, partnering with performance modeling where deeper analysis is needed
- Work closely with design, DV, and PD teams on feature definition and PPA tradeoff; refine architecture to meet the design and PD constraints. Define architecture to maximize DV complexity including defining specific features to help ease DV
- Support Design, DV and PD to resolve interface and integration issues as they come up. Support post-silicon bring-up of the I/O subsystem
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
- 8+ years of relevant industry experience architecting I/O and system subsystems and their hardware/software interfaces - register and programming models, DMA and descriptor interfaces, doorbells, and offload interfaces - for NIC/DPU or comparable ASICs
- Experience with PCIe data link and transport protocols, including TLP formats, transaction types (posted/non-posted/completions), and ordering rules
- Experience with I/O virtualization technologies such as SR-IOV and SIOV
- Experience with PCIe capabilities such as Advanced Error Reporting, Downstream Port Containment, and Integrity and Data Encryption
- Experience with on-chip scheduling and arbitration architectures and quality-of-service mechanisms - transaction/packet schedulers, arbiters, traffic shapers, and rate limiters (meters/policers, token buckets) - and their impact on latency, fairness, bandwidth partitioning, and throughput
- Experience with symmetric and asymmetric cryptography concepts and inline data encryption (e.g., AES-XTS, AES-GCM)
- Experience with x86 and/or ARM system architecture, including virtualization technologies, IOMMUs, and interrupt virtualization
- Experience with data center workloads and their I/O characteristics
- Experience driving architectural decisions independently and influencing their direction through data
Preferred Qualifications
- PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering
- 15+ years of relevant industry experience architecting I/O and system subsystems and hardware/software interfaces for NIC/DPU or comparable ASICs
- Experience designing PCIe endpoints and root complexes
- Experience with hardware description languages (e.g., SystemVerilog, VHDL) and simulation environments used in ASIC development flows
- Experience developing Python-based automation pipelines for simulation orchestration, regression testing, and performance data analysis
- Experience building or scaling performance modeling infrastructure for hyperscale data center ASICs, including network, storage, or AI inference accelerator designs
- Experience with system-management concepts including server/BMC interactions, and protocols such as I2C, I3C, USB/Ethernet, USB/MCTP, and SPI/eSPI
- Experience designing high-performance DMA engines and offload accelerators, such as for cryptography and compression
- Experience with post-silicon performance validation and model-to-hardware correlation methodologies
- Understanding of Confidential Computing use cases and the related PCIe protocols -- Data Object Exchange (DOE), Security Protocol and Data Model (SPDM), Management Component Transport Protocol (MCTP), and TEE Device Interface Security Protocol (TDISP)
Compensation
- $178,000/year - $250,000/year; Country: US; Bonus eligible; Equity eligible
About Meta
Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology. People who choose to build their careers by building with us at Meta help shape a future that will take us beyond what digital connection makes possible today—beyond the constraints of screens, the limits of distance, and even the rules of physics.
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Equal Opportunity
Meta is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. You may view our Equal Employment Opportunity notice here.
Accommodations
Meta is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, fill out the Accommodations request form.
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