Principal/Sr Principal Circuit Designer — Analog / SERDES (Automotive Transceivers)

Job Title

Principal/Sr Principal Circuit Designer — Analog / SERDES (Automotive Transceivers)

Role Summary

Hands-on individual contributor role owning the design and delivery of high-speed, high-linearity analog and SERDES circuit blocks that form the Analog Front End (AFE) of automotive transceivers. The role includes block-level ownership from specification through transistor-level design, silicon validation, and production support. At the Senior Principal level, provide technical leadership and mentor other designers.

Experience Level

Senior level. Principal: typically 12–15+ years of analog or mixed-signal IC design experience. Senior Principal: typically 15–20+ years.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include circuit architecture, detailed design, validation, and production support for analog and SERDES blocks.

• Architect, design, and simulate TX, RX, and clocking circuits (line drivers, pre-drivers, output stages, front-end amplifiers, CTLE, PGA, slicers, PLLs/DLLs, clock distribution).
• Translate system- and PHY-level requirements into robust block-level specifications.
• Optimize designs for linearity, distortion, noise, jitter, power, area, and robustness across automotive conditions.
• Perform transistor-level simulations across PVT corners and full automotive temperature ranges.
• Support silicon bring-up, characterization, correlation of simulation to silicon, and drive design improvements.
• Collaborate with layout, digital, DSP, systems, test, and product engineering to resolve performance, yield, and reliability issues.
• Lead technical design reviews, serve as block-level technical owner, influence AFE/PHY architecture, and mentor mid/senior designers.

Requirements

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

• Proven hands-on experience designing high-speed SERDES or wireline analog circuits and delivering TX, RX, and clocking circuits to production silicon.
• Extensive transistor-level circuit design, simulation, and debug experience.
• Deep expertise in TX/RX circuit design, linearity and distortion analysis, jitter and clock integrity, and PLL/DLL architectures.
• Experience optimizing designs for PVT variation and automotive robustness.
• Experience with advanced CMOS processes for high-speed analog designs.
• Strong collaboration skills across mixed-signal, layout, digital, test, and product teams and experience supporting production ramps.
• Nice-to-have: experience with 10GBASE-T / 10GBASE-T1, TDD transceivers, AEC-Q100 automotive requirements, EMI/EMC considerations, and exposure to ISO 26262/functional safety concepts.

Education Requirements

MSEE or PhD in Electrical Engineering is strongly preferred; equivalent practical experience will be considered.

About the Company

Company: NXP Semiconductors

Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.