ASIC Physical Design Engineer

Key Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of RTL-to-GDSII execution on complex designs, driving PPA and quality-of-results metrics to closure with minimal supervision.
• Lead methodology and solution-focused discussions with key stakeholders across the design organization.
• Work with cross-functional partners—design, CAD, and program teams—to align on implementation strategy, priorities, and schedules.
• Champion and roll out new tools and techniques, driving their adoption across the engineering team.
• Devise creative, non-obvious solutions to tough implementation challenges, whether through native tool capabilities or custom scripting.
• Bring machine-learning-based approaches into the flow to lift productivity and improve PPA.
• Trace complex issues down to precise tool or flow root causes and drive them to resolution with EDA vendor R&D teams.
• Partner with globally distributed teams and mentor junior engineers as they ramp.

 

Tools & EDA Expertise

Hands-on fluency with the digital implementation toolchain is a core requirement—strong tool expertise keeps the learning curve short and lets you contribute to tapeouts quickly. We expect working command of the following (or their equivalents):

• Cadence Genus for RTL synthesis and design-for-test insertion and Innovus for PnR.
• Cadence Tempus for signoff static timing analysis (STA).
• Quantus for parasitic extraction (RC/RCc).
• Voltus / Voltus-Fi for power, EM, and IR-drop signoff.
• Pegasus (or Siemens Calibre) for physical verification — DRC, LVS, and ERC.
• Cadence Conformal for logic equivalence checking (LEC).
• Scripting in Tcl, Python, or Perl for flow automation and custom utilities.
• Familiarity with the equivalent Synopsys flow (Design Compiler / Fusion Compiler, IC Compiler II, PrimeTime, StarRC, Formality) is a welcome plus.

 

Qualifications

• BE / BTech / ME / MS / MTech in Electrical or Electronics Engineering (or a related field).

 

Experience & Technical Skills

• 5+ years in the digital implementation flow on advanced process nodes.
• Deep expertise in one or more areas—synthesis, place-and-route, static timing analysis (STA), or EM/IR.
• Strong command of scripting languages and flow development is a significant advantage.
• Excellent debugging ability, with a knack for separating the critical issues from the trivial ones.

 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience implementing high-speed wireline / SerDes-based blocks or SoCs.
• Familiarity with low-power (UPF) methodology, DFT, and full physical signoff flows.
• Hands-on with multiple tape-outs across advanced CMOS / FinFET nodes.