Nvidia is setting its sights on technical sales for semiconductor process simulation. The company is searching for a semiconductor process simulation expert who will be based in Korea and lead technical sales aimed at Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS). The move is interpreted as groundwork to expand the influence of Nvidia's platforms within Korea's semiconductor ecosystem.
According to Nvidia's recruitment website Monday, the company is currently hiring for a semiconductor process simulation solutions sales position based in Korea. The person hired will be dedicated to forming partnerships with Korean semiconductor companies, identifying bottlenecks within their workloads, and finding ways to resolve them. In this process, they will use Nvidia's software development tool CUDA and its digital twin platform Omniverse.
Nvidia specified more than six years of experience at semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, or Intel as a qualification requirement. It also listed work experience at semiconductor electronic design automation (EDA) companies such as Synopsys and Siemens as a key requirement. EDA refers to software used to design and verify semiconductor integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. In addition, the company specified that candidates must have a track record of developing semiconductor simulation tools using Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPU) and CUDA.
Taken together, the recruitment requirements show that Nvidia is looking for an expert who can carry out both semiconductor process simulation development and sales at the same time. By hiring a forward-deployed engineer (FDE) for Korean semiconductor partner companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Nvidia is interpreted as aiming to expand its product sales touchpoints in the process simulation field.
Moreover, Nvidia appears set to fully leverage the nature of the FDE role to pursue a lock-in effect for its software ecosystem. In the job description of the recruitment posting, Nvidia said it will "integrate Nvidia's own libraries (collections of programs) with the workloads of Korean semiconductor companies." This passage reveals a strategy to cooperate on the process simulation development of Korean semiconductor companies while establishing usage experience of Nvidia software and standard workloads within their processes.
Je Won-ho, CEO of Multiscale Instrument, a semiconductor metrology equipment developer, predicted, "Just as Nvidia, which had been far removed from the EDA field, is attempting simulation expert sales in Korea, semiconductor process simulation will become a technology field that global giants gradually take interest in and that is on the rise." He added, "The more advanced simulation technology becomes, the more the reliability of its results will be determined by the level of ultra-precise physical data fed into the model. As simulation platforms spread, the technology for acquiring precise data at the process site will also require a higher level of development."
