Roles / Technical Program Manager (SoC)

Technical Program Manager (SoC)

PGM-002v1

Program Management & Engineering OperationsProgramIC4–IC6Individual contributor

Also known as: SoC TPM; Technical Program Manager, Chip Development; Engineering Program Manager (SoC)

See this role on the AI accelerator lifecycle or on the AI-assisted flow lifecycle or on the Automotive SPICE lifecycle or on the Platform lifecycle or on the Product lifecycle or on the SoC lifecycle

Summary

Drives the technical execution of SoC subsystem integration by owning the dependency web between IP, design, verification, physical design and firmware at engineering-detail resolution.

A day in the life

Work in progressNo day-in-the-life description has been written for this role yet. If you do this work, we would welcome yours. Suggest a source or a correction

Responsibilities

Project

Work done for a product or program.

Maintain the SoC-level dependency map linking IP deliverables, RTL freeze milestones, testbench readiness and floorplan handoffs.
Run the daily and weekly SoC integration stand-ups tracking RTL drop health, regression pass rates and open integration bugs.
Drive bug burndown and triage cadence with DV and design leads, enforcing severity definitions and blocker escalation SLAs.
Track verification closure metrics including functional coverage, code coverage and formal proof status against the RTL freeze gate.
Coordinate clock, reset, power domain and DFT integration checkpoints across subsystem owners.
Own the SoC deliverable checklist for each milestone drop and audit completeness before declaring the milestone met.
Broker technical trade-off decisions between subsystem teams when area, power, timing or schedule constraints conflict.
Maintain the engineering change log for RTL freeze exceptions and secure waiver approvals with documented risk.
Prepare the technical content of milestone review packages including open-risk lists and quantified closure forecasts.

Function

Work that keeps the discipline running: methods, tools, suppliers and people.

Manage EDA compute and regression farm capacity requests for peak verification windows with the CAD team.

Major tasks

Project

Produce and hand over the role's key deliverables
- SoC integration dependency map and milestone deliverable checklist
- Weekly bug burndown and coverage closure dashboards
- RTL freeze exception log with approved waivers
- Milestone review technical readiness package
- Regression farm capacity forecast and allocation plan
Plan the programGeneral
- Agree scope and milestones
- Build the integrated schedule
- Secure resources
Run the programGeneral
- Track progress and risks
- Manage changes
- Run milestone reviews

Function

Maintain the processGeneral
- Keep templates and tools current
- Train teams on the process
Report and improveGeneral
- Report portfolio status
- Review completed programs

Works with

SoC Integration Lead
DV Managers
RTL Design Leads
Physical Design Lead
DFT Lead
CAD/EDA Infrastructure Engineer
Firmware Lead

Typical backgrounds

BS/MS in Electrical or Computer Engineering; 6–12 years with hands-on RTL, DV or integration experience before transitioning to TPM.

Demand signal

0 open listings right now
0 Talent Wafer employer inquiries

Counts live listings tagged to this role, and employer interest in candidates from Talent Wafer runs for this role (all runs to date). Hub activity only, not the wider market.

Comp tier (within semis)

3 / 5

Remote feasibility

High

Semis core vs. portable

Core semiconductor-only

Geographic hotspots

Santa Clara, Austin, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Hsinchu, Shanghai, Haifa, Cambridge UK

Certifications / standards training

PMP; PMI-ACP; Certified Scrum Master; internal SoC methodology certification

Transfers to (industries)

Complex embedded systems, automotive ECU development, networking equipment hardware programs

Risk if vacant

Integration dependencies are discovered late, regressions stall on unowned blockers and RTL freeze slips because no one holds the technical seam between subsystem teams.

Technical Program Manager (SoC)

Summary

A day in the life

Responsibilities

Project

Function

Major tasks

Project

Function

Works with

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