Applications Engineering Director - Physical Design
SynopsysJob Title
Applications Engineering Director - Physical Design
Role Summary
Lead a team of applications engineers who deploy and scale digital design methodologies-synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, and power optimization-for customers building advanced-node chips. The role focuses on resolving implementation issues, delivering repeatable methodology, and converting field insights into product improvements.
Experience Level
Senior-level. Requires 16+ years of hands-on experience in digital design implementation and customer-facing technical leadership.
Responsibilities
Primary responsibilities include technical leadership, customer engagement, and cross-functional escalation management.
- Lead customer engagements to deploy and tune digital implementation flows (synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, power optimization) on advanced process nodes.
- Diagnose flow bottlenecks and implement fixes and methodology improvements to meet PPA and schedule targets.
- Provide technical training and hands-on guidance to customer teams and internal applications engineering staff.
- Manage and mentor a team of applications engineers; handle hiring, performance management, and resource allocation across multiple engagements.
- Own customer escalations and drive resolution plans with R&D, Product, and Support teams when issues threaten tapeout or deployment.
- Serve as the voice of the customer to R&D, translating field issues and feature requests into actionable product feedback.
- Drive AI-related initiatives and collaborate with cross-functional/global AE teams to scale new capabilities.
Requirements
Must-have qualifications and skills.
- 16+ years of hands-on experience in digital design implementation, including synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, and power optimization on advanced process nodes.
- Deep working knowledge of Synopsys digital design tools or equivalent EDA platforms, with the ability to debug flows, tune configurations, and teach methodologies.
- Proven experience leading technical teams, including hiring, mentoring, performance management, and resource allocation across customer engagements.
- Track record of managing customer escalations and driving resolution through cross-functional collaboration with R&D, Product, and Support organizations.
- Strong technical judgment to prioritize competing demands and make tradeoff decisions under pressure.
- Willingness to travel occasionally to support strategic customer engagements and critical milestones.
Nice-to-have:
- Experience with AI/ML tooling or methodologies in the context of EDA workflows.
Education Requirements
Not specified.
About the Company
Company: Synopsys
Headquarters: Mountain View, California, USA
Synopsys is a leading company in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP solutions. It provides tools and services for designing and verifying complex semiconductor devices and systems. The company plays a pivotal role in the semiconductor industry, helping engineers innovate and deliver higher-quality products faster. Synopsys is committed to advancing technology standards and offers a range of software and hardware solutions to its clients globally.
