Staff Engineer - AI Accelerator Card Security

About the Role

A leading semiconductor company based in Cork is seeking a skilled Staff Engineer specialized in AI Accelerator Card Security. The AI accelerator cards underpin enhanced AI operations by offloading AI workloads from general processors to specialized NPU cores, resulting in faster execution, reduced latency, and lower power consumption. Given these devices process sensitive user and model information, ensuring robust security measures is vital for product success.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and document security requirements for all components on the AI accelerator cards.
• Define secure communication protocols between the Board Management Controller (BMC) and platform management services, including Redfish, SPDM, and PLDM interactions.
• Develop procedures for device identity establishment, measurement collection, evidence generation, and attestation of AI accelerator card status through the Platform Root of Trust (PRoT) via the BMC.
• Represent the security team in relevant customer, vendor, and standards bodies, focusing on attestation protocol interoperability and development.
• Assess components for compliance with security criteria and collaborate with vendors to enhance security where standards are unmet.
• Design and document device personalization services and factory provisioning processes for keys, certificates, identities, and configuration data.
• Create test plans and production-line validations to confirm accurate provisioning of identities, keys, certificates, and secure configurations during manufacturing.

Mandatory Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related discipline, with at least 7 years of experience in product security or a similar domain. Advanced degrees (Master’s or Doctoral) with relevant work will be considered.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the security considerations for AI accelerator card physical elements, including the BMC, PRoT, flash storage, PCIe switches, and ACS utilization.
• Understanding of key and certificate management principles.
• Familiarity with device security lifecycle, root-of-trust mechanisms, secure boot chains, and firmware authentication practices.
• Experience conducting security risk assessments across systems composed of discrete components.
• Proven ability to develop security specifications and evaluate system adherence to these requirements.
• Expertise in analyzing firmware and software security for components running C language code on AI accelerator cards.
• Proficient in Python programming for creating provisioning tools, automating tests, and validating protocols.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.

Preferred Experience

• Master’s degree with a focus on security in Engineering, Information Systems, or Computer Science.
• Knowledge of secure debug procedures and Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) flows.
• Understanding of protocols including MCTP, SPDM, PLDM, and Redfish.
• Experience designing security provisioning protocols in factory environments.
• Background in developing security systems for device attestation, including considerations for post-quantum cryptography in attestation protocols.
• Experience implementing Open Compute Project (OCP), Confidential Computing Consortium (CCC), and IETF RATS group standards such as the EAT token format.
• Work experience related to AI accelerator system development.
• Advanced proficiency in C for the development of secure provisioning systems involving keys, certificates, and configurations.

Additional Information

Applicants understand that their personal data will be collected, stored, and processed according to the company's privacy policy.