Principal Engineer, Applications Engineering (Physical Design)
SynopsysJob Title
Principal Engineer, Applications Engineering (Physical Design)
Role Summary
Senior applications engineer focused on physical design enabling customers to adopt and optimize Synopsys' RTL-to-GDS tool flows. The role sits in the Applications Engineering team and works across product engineering and R&D to solve complex customer design problems and influence tool development.
Primary mission: provide hands-on customer enablement, technical support, training, and feedback to improve physical design flows and Synopsys tools for advanced semiconductor nodes.
Experience Level
Senior — requires extensive industry experience. The posting specifies 15+ years of experience with the complete RTL-to-GDS physical design flow.
Responsibilities
The role combines customer-facing technical enablement with internal collaboration to improve tools and flows.
- Engage directly with customers to understand requirements and deliver tailored physical-design solutions.
- Provide hands-on demonstrations, support, workshops, and training for Synopsys physical-design tools (e.g., Fusion Compiler, PrimeTime).
- Diagnose and resolve complex design issues across synthesis, place & route, timing closure, power optimization, DRC/ECO, and formal verification.
- Collaborate with R&D and Product Engineering to relay customer feedback and drive tool enhancements.
- Produce technical collateral, run benchmarks, and present best practices to customers and internal teams.
- Mentor and develop junior engineers within the Applications Engineering team.
Requirements
Must-have technical skills and experience; nice-to-have items listed separately.
- Must-have: 15+ years of hands-on experience with the complete RTL-to-GDS physical design flow, including advanced nodes.
- Must-have: Deep expertise in synthesis, design planning, place & route, timing closure, power reduction methodologies, static timing analysis, ECO flows, and DRC rules.
- Must-have: Proficiency with industry EDA tools such as Fusion Compiler, PrimeTime, PrimeClosure, Formality, DSO.ai, ICV, StarRC, and RTLA.
- Must-have: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and proven ability to diagnose complex design and tool issues.
- Must-have: Excellent communication skills and customer-facing experience, including technical presentations and workshops.
- Nice-to-have: Familiarity with Innovus, Genus, Tempus, Quantus, Cerebrus and experience working with AI/ML applied to EDA workflows.
- Nice-to-have: Experience building or deploying AI agents or working with LLMs and GPT-style models for design automation.
Education Requirements
Bachelor's and/or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field (the posting specifies these degrees). Equivalent practical experience in relevant semiconductor physical design may be considered if stated by the employer.
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.
