Principal Engineer, Applications Engineering

Job Title

Principal Engineer, Applications Engineering

Role Summary

Lead technical engagements that bridge customer manufacturing, field engineering, and R&D to deliver production-ready computational lithography solutions (Proteus OPC, MEC, RET). Work includes prototyping, specification authoring, debugging escalations in customer production flows, and accelerating productization of machine-learning and GPU-based features.

Experience Level

Senior — typically 10+ years of hands-on experience in semiconductor manufacturing or computational lithography.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include customer-facing engineering, prototyping, and technical leadership to move features into production.

• Partner with semiconductor customers and internal R&D to develop, prototype, and deploy OPC, MEC, and RET features, including machine-learning solutions.
• Create and review functional specifications translating manufacturing constraints into implementable features.
• Prototype solutions in Python and C++, then collaborate with R&D to transition proofs of concept to production releases.
• Resolve complex customer escalations beyond standard support; debug production flows and provide root-cause analysis.
• Design and optimize GPU-based computational lithography solutions for performance and scalability.
• Develop training materials and deliver technical training to applications engineers and customer teams.
• Collaborate with technical publications to ensure product documentation reflects real-world workflows.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience followed by useful but optional qualifications.

• 10+ years of hands-on experience in semiconductor manufacturing or computational lithography, with practical work on OPC, RET, or related resolution enhancement techniques.
• Strong proficiency in Python and C++ for prototyping, automation, and performance-critical code.
• Experience with HPC technologies and parallel computing environments used in semiconductor workflows.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and debug complex production issues in customer environments.
• Track record of moving prototypes to production-quality implementations and producing actionable specifications for R&D.
• Nice-to-have: experience working directly with customers or cross-functional teams in technical roles.
• Nice-to-have: familiarity with GPU computing or applying machine learning to physical-design or lithography problems.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, 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.