Senior/Principal Researcher, Agentic CPU and Next-gen NPU Micro-architecture

About the role

Huawei Switzerland's Advanced Computing & Storage team in Zurich is looking for a Senior/Principal researcher to shape the European Research Institute with a multicultural team of leading researchers. The research focuses on the next generation of Neural Processing Units (NPUs) and on CPUs designed for the agentic AI era.

Key responsibilities

• Investigate and prototype NPU core micro-architecture: frontend mechanisms (branch prediction, BTB, instruction prefetching), register files, issue and wake-up logic, and scalar, vector and tensor functional units.
• Study the NPU backend and memory system, including TLBs, L1 caches, scratchpads and cache hierarchies that give high bandwidth and low latency.
• Design CPUs for agentic AI that handle tool calling, agent-logic scheduling and context management alongside accelerator-bound work.
• Develop support for rapid context switching and high thread-level concurrency beyond conventional 2-way SMT.
• Publish research papers at top-tier conferences and journals such as ASPLOS, ISCA, MICRO and HPCA.
• Maintain collaborations with leading academic institutions and faculty.
• Mentor and support junior researchers and interns.

Required profile

• MSc/PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• Strong background in computer architecture and micro-architecture.
• Research experience and/or strong knowledge in at least one of the listed areas.
• Proven track record of publishing research papers in top-tier venues.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and system-level thinking skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills, able to work both collaboratively and independently.

Required skills

• Knowledge of modern CPU architectures (Intel/ARM/AMD) or GPUs (Nvidia) or TPUs (Google).
• Experience with simulators such as Gem5, ChampSim, Sniper, ZSim or QFlex.
• Vector and matrix extensions (ARM SVE/SME, Intel SSE/AVX/AMX).
• GPU programming model (CUDA, PTX/SASS).
• Micro-architecture characterisation using PMUs.
• Strong prototyping skills.

What we offer

• Collaboration with world-class scientists and engineers in an open, curiosity-driven environment.
• Access to state-of-the-art technology and tools.
• Opportunities for professional growth and development.
• Competitive salary and a high quality of life in Zurich.