•Job Summary
We are seeking an experienced engineer to lead hands-on thermal, power, performance, reliability and system-level validation for personal computing platforms. The role focuses on characterizing laptops, desktops, AI PCs and workstations under real-world and stress workloads, identifying thermal or power bottlenecks, reproducing platform failures and recommending practical hardware, firmware, driver or configuration improvements. The engineer will evaluate CPU, GPU, NPU, memory, storage, cooling solutions, BIOS/UEFI and operating-system interactions across multiple hardware platforms.
•Key Responsibilities A. Thermal and Cooling Validation
•Characterize system behavior under idle, sustained-load, burst-load, productivity, gaming and AI workloads.
•Measure and analyze component temperatures, package power, clock frequencies, fan behavior and thermal throttling.
•Evaluate heat pipes, vapor chambers, heatsinks, thermal interface materials, fan curves and airflow performance.
•Correlate ambient temperature, component temperature, power consumption, acoustics where applicable and delivered performance.
•Support controlled environmental testing across approved operating-temperature ranges.
•Identify thermal constraints and recommend hardware, firmware or system-configuration improvements.
B. System Performance and Reliability Validation
•Develop and execute validation plans for CPU, GPU, NPU, memory, storage and total system performance.
•Run stress, endurance, stability, regression and thermal-saturation tests using repeatable methods.
•Establish baseline measurements, tolerances and engineering acceptance criteria.
•Analyze benchmark scores, workload completion time, throughput, latency and consistency across repeated runs.
•Identify crashes, hangs, abnormal power behavior, performance degradation and thermally induced failures.
•Validate BIOS/UEFI, firmware, driver, Windows update and hardware-configuration changes.
C. Platform Debug and Root-Cause Analysis
•Collect and interpret hardware telemetry, event logs, benchmark results and Windows performance traces.
•Reproduce defects, isolate failure conditions and distinguish hardware, firmware, driver and operating-system contributors.
•Use platform-specific tools and telemetry interfaces to investigate performance or power differences.
•Maintain configuration records, validation evidence, defect reproduction steps and closure criteria.
•Collaborate with design, thermal, BIOS, driver, quality and product engineering teams on corrective actions.
D. Multi-Platform and AI PC Validation
•Evaluate systems using Intel and AMD processors, NVIDIA GPUs and supported ARM-based platforms, including applicable Qualcomm Snapdragon systems.
•Compare performance, power efficiency, thermal behavior and workload compatibility across platforms.
•Evaluate AI inference latency, throughput, memory usage and energy consumption across CPU, GPU and NPU execution paths.
•Assess compatibility across Windows versions, firmware, drivers and supported AI runtimes.
•Produce comparative engineering reports that support product selection and optimization decisions.
E. Reporting and Continuous Improvement
•Create thermal curves, power profiles, stability summaries and workload performance visualizations.
•Produce technical reports describing test methodology, findings, root causes, risks and recommendations.
•Improve test repeatability, coverage, traceability and laboratory execution efficiency.
•Contribute requirements for automated data capture and reporting tools developed with validation-automation engineers.
•Required Technical Skills
PC hardware and systems: PC architecture; CPU, GPU, NPU, memory, storage, motherboard, power delivery and cooling subsystems; Windows; BIOS/UEFI; firmware; drivers; hardware telemetry.
Thermal and power engineering: Thermal characterization, cooling-solution evaluation, fan behavior, power management, throttling analysis and environmental testing.
Validation: System-level testing, stress and endurance testing, regression validation, benchmark interpretation, test planning, defect analysis and root-cause investigation.
Tools: HWiNFO or equivalent; Cinebench, OCCT, 3DMark or comparable benchmarks; CrystalDiskMark; memory diagnostics; Windows Performance Recorder and Windows Performance Analyzer.
Scripting and analysis: Working knowledge of Python, PowerShell or Windows command-line scripting; ability to clean, compare and visualize engineering data using tools such as pandas and Matplotlib.
Laboratory methods: Safe and repeatable use of thermal instrumentation, data loggers, power measurement equipment and environmental chambers is preferred.
•Preferred Qualifications
•Bachelor's or master's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science or a related discipline.
•Five or more years of experience in PC system validation, thermal engineering, performance engineering, hardware testing or a related field.
•Demonstrated experience with laptop, desktop or workstation thermal and performance characterization.
•Experience validating firmware, drivers, Windows updates and system configurations.
•Familiarity with AI PC architecture and CPU/GPU/NPU workloads.
•Experience with environmental chambers, laboratory instrumentation, thermal simulation, CFD or FEA is an advantage.
•Key Deliverables
•Standardized thermal, power, CPU, GPU, NPU, memory and storage validation plans.
•Thermal and power characterization reports across workloads and defined environmental conditions.
•Repeatable system stability, endurance and regression test procedures.
•Cross-platform performance and power-efficiency comparison reports.
•Documented defects, root-cause findings, validation evidence and engineering recommendations.
•Success Metrics
•Coverage across agreed hardware configurations, workloads and environmental conditions.
•Repeatability and reliability of thermal, power and benchmark measurements.
•Quality and reproducibility of defect isolation and root-cause analysis.
•Reduction in unresolved thermal or performance regressions before product release.
•Timely delivery of clear, actionable validation reports.
•Collaboration
The engineer will work closely with hardware design, mechanical and thermal engineering, BIOS/firmware, operating-system, driver, AI software, quality assurance, laboratory operations and product engineering teams.
•Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is a hands-on PC hardware validation engineer who can connect physical measurements to system behavior. They should be comfortable moving from test setup and telemetry collection to failure reproduction, root-cause analysis and practical engineering recommendations.
