ASIC Physical Design Engineer - New College Graduate
NVIDIAJob Title
ASIC Physical Design Engineer - New College Graduate
Role Summary
Join the physical design (PD) team to implement digital ASICs from RTL freeze through tape-out. The role focuses on synthesis, formal verification, constraints definition, timing closure/sign-off, and methodology and flow automation to achieve timing closure on advanced process nodes.
You will collaborate with ASIC, PR, and cross-functional teams to resolve timing issues, define partitioning and floorplans, and improve PD flows and automation.
Experience Level
Entry-level (New college graduate). Suitable for recent graduates or candidates with early-career project experience in IC implementation.
Responsibilities
Primary duties span pre-layout and post-layout physical design activities and related automation and methodology work.
- Chip integration and netlist generation.
- Synthesis, RTL/netlist quality checks, and formal verification.
- Create and validate constraints and timing budgets.
- Analyze and resolve special timing issues; collaborate on chip partitioning and floorplan.
- Work with place-and-route (PR) engineers to achieve timing closure at partition and full-chip levels.
- Close timing for special modes (IO, test, clock domains, async interfaces).
- Create functional ECOs and manage netlist changes.
- Develop and improve end-to-end timing closure flows (pre-layout to post-layout).
- Develop flow automation and methodology improvements in the PD flow.
Requirements
Key skills and background expected for successful candidates.
- Must-have: Project experience in IC design implementation (practical RTL-to-layout exposure).
- Must-have: Proficient English reading and writing.
- Nice-to-have: Hands-on experience with EDA tools (Synopsys: Design Compiler/PrimeTime/Formality; Cadence: RC Compiler/LEC).
- Nice-to-have: Proficient scripting with Python or TCL for flow automation.
- Nice-to-have: Awareness of timing closure methodologies and advanced process node challenges.
Education Requirements
MS in Electrical Engineering or Microelectronics. Relevant coursework in circuit design and digital design and practical project experience in IC design implementation are expected.
About the Company
Company: NVIDIA
Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, USA
NVIDIA is a global leader in accelerated computing, renowned for its innovative solutions in AI and digital twins that transform diverse industries. The company specializes in networking technologies, providing end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions for servers and storage that optimize performance and scalability. NVIDIA serves sectors such as high-performance computing, enterprise data centers, and cloud computing, constantly reinventing its products and services to stay ahead in the market.
