ASIC Physical Design Engineer

Job Title

ASIC Physical Design Engineer

Role Summary

The ASIC Physical Design Engineer performs physical design from RTL to GDSII, focusing on timing analysis/closure, synthesis checks, partitioning, constraints, floorplanning and related flows. The role sits on the ASIC-PD team and collaborates with P&R, DFT, SI and architecture teams to deliver tapeout-quality designs for advanced process nodes.

Experience Level

Mid-level. The posting prefers candidates with a master's degree and 1+ years of relevant experience, but the team is hiring junior and senior engineers as well.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include timing analysis, closure and flow development across pre- and post-layout stages.

• Perform STA for hierarchical designs and validate timing budgets.
• Create and validate constraints for design and process flows.
• Achieve timing closure at partition and full-chip levels; handle special timing domains (I/O, test, clock).
• Run synthesis, perform netlist quality checks and support formal verification where needed.
• Implement chip partitioning and floorplan and support functional ECOs.
• Develop and improve timing closure flows from frontend (pre-layout) to backend (post-layout).
• Automate flows and contribute to methodology improvements across physical-design tools.

Requirements

Brief list of required and preferred skills. Educational requirements are listed separately below.

• Must-have: Project experience in IC design implementation; hands-on experience with EDA tools (examples: Synopsys or Cadence toolsets) and practical timing analysis/closure experience; proficiency with at least one scripting language (Python, Perl or Tcl); ability to read and write technical English.
• Nice-to-have: Experience in flow automation and methodology development; formal verification exposure; strong verbal English communication skills.

Education Requirements

MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or Microelectronics preferred with 1+ years of relevant experience; coursework in circuit design and digital design is expected or equivalent practical experience.