Physical Design Engineer

Job Title

Physical Design Engineer

Role Summary

Join the Implementation team at Cirrus Logic to implement mixed-signal SoCs for consumer mobile audio. The role focuses on physical implementation from RTL to tape-out, timing closure, and flow automation within a cross-functional design team.

Experience Level

Mid-level — typically 3+ years of industry experience in logic or physical design.

Responsibilities

Work on full-chip physical implementation and related flow development to achieve timing closure and manufacturable tape-out.

• Implement designs from RTL to GDSII, including placement, routing, and tape-out tasks.
• Perform RTL synthesis and scan stitching.
• Build and debug timing constraints and run STA to achieve timing closure (including ECO generation).
• Analyze and fix timing issues for advanced nodes (40nm, 28nm, and below).
• Develop and maintain placement & route structures, clock distribution, and floorplan analysis.
• Perform IR drop analysis and improvements across designs.
• Automate flows and advance tool flows using scripting; participate in tool evaluation, QA, and process improvement.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience required to perform the role.

• Strong understanding of RTL design and physical design concepts (timing, ECOs, STA).
• Experience with one or more implementation toolsets: Cadence Genus/Innovus or Synopsys Design Compiler/ICC/Fusion Compiler.
• Experience with STA and signoff tools such as Synopsys PrimeTime; familiarity with Conformal LEC and ATPG tools.
• Practical knowledge of scan insertion and ATPG.
• Proficiency in flow automation and scripting (Perl, Tcl).
• Experience in placement & route, floorplanning, clock distribution, and ECO flow.
• Ability to analyze power/IR drop and implement mitigations.
• Good communication and collaboration skills for team-based design work.
• Preferred: experience mentoring junior engineers, defining physical-design methodologies, conducting architecture/design reviews, and debugging library or technology file issues.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering. The posting specifies 3+ years of industry experience in a logic-design or physical-design role.

About the Company

Company: Cirrus Logic

Headquarters: Austin, TX, United States

Designer and manufacturer of high-precision analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, specializing in audio and voice processing solutions for consumer electronics and mobile devices, including audio codecs, converters, and SoCs.