Applications Engineering, Staff Engineer - DFT

Job Title

Applications Engineering, Staff Engineer - DFT

Role Summary

Customer-facing DFT staff engineer responsible for owning end-to-end DFT engagements from kickoff through tape-out and first-silicon bring-up. The role supports customers in China, reproduces and diagnoses complex DFT/ATPG issues, delivers enablement and training, and partners with global R&D to close product gaps.

Experience Level

Senior. The posting lists hands-on DFT experience guidance of 1+ years, with expectations of deep practical DFT troubleshooting and cross-team coordination.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include technical ownership of customer DFT projects, issue reproduction, and enablement.

• Own full customer DFT engagements from project kickoff through tape-out and first-silicon bring-up covering scan compression, ATPG, XLBIST, OCC, IEEE 1687/1149, and hierarchical test flows.
• Deliver hands-on technical training, workshops, and best-practice enablement sessions to customer DFT teams across China.
• Reproduce complex customer issues, create minimal test cases, and partner with R&D to resolve product gaps and improve quality of results.
• Support pre-sales technical evaluations and benchmarks; build proof-of-concept flows using TestMAX, DFTMAX, and TetraMAX.
• Create and maintain documentation: flow guides, known-issue summaries, and workarounds for internal teams and customers.
• Debug DFT/ATPG issues using simulation, waveform analysis, and DRC/log forensics to isolate root cause under schedule pressure.
• Collaborate across global R&D, sales, and customer teams and travel to customer sites in China as required for critical engagements.

Requirements

Concise list of required and preferred technical skills and experience.

• Must-have: 1+ years hands-on DFT experience in implementation, ATPG, or silicon test roles.
• Must-have: Working knowledge of scan insertion, compression architectures, ATPG, OCC, IJTAG/IEEE 1687, and hierarchical DFT methodologies.
• Must-have: Proficiency reading Verilog or SystemVerilog and strong Unix/Linux command-line skills.
• Must-have: Scripting skills in Tcl, Python, or Perl to automate flows, parse logs, and create test environments.
• Must-have: Experience debugging DFT/ATPG problems using simulation, waveform viewers, and log/DRC analysis to identify root cause.
• Must-have: Strong written and verbal English communication; comfortable leading customer calls and producing clear technical reports.
• Must-have: Willingness to work across time zones and travel to customer sites in China as needed.
• Nice-to-have: Experience with commercial DFT/ATPG tools such as Synopsys TestMAX, DFTMAX, TetraMAX or equivalents.
• Nice-to-have: Silicon bring-up, ATE pattern validation, diagnosis, scan chain failure analysis, or failure remapping experience.
• Nice-to-have: Knowledge of static timing analysis for DFT modes, scan stitching, and at-speed test constraints.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.

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.