Senior ASIC Design Engineer

Job Title

Senior ASIC Design Engineer

Role Summary

Lead the development of custom analog and mixed-signal ASICs for scientific instrumentation at Fermilab. Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to define architectures, deliver circuit implementations, layouts, verification, and silicon characterization for devices operating in extreme environments.

Experience Level

Senior-level - requires substantial hands-on analog/mixed-signal ASIC design experience. The posting specifies 2 years of professional experience with a Ph.D. or 5 years with an M.S.

Responsibilities

The role leads ASIC work from concept to validated silicon and contributes technical leadership across teams.

• Lead design and development of analog, RF, and mixed-signal ASICs from concept through silicon validation.
• Define system architectures and ASIC specifications based on application requirements.
• Design high-performance analog/RF blocks (e.g., low-noise amplifiers, data converters) and perform transistor-level circuit design and optimization.
• Develop behavioral models and simulation environments for mixed-signal verification.
• Create custom IC layouts and perform physical verification including DRC/LVS and post-layout extraction.
• Collaborate with digital designers, system engineers, and test teams to implement full mixed-signal solutions and debug silicon.
• Develop ASIC test plans, characterize fabricated devices, and mentor junior engineers.
• Prepare technical documentation and contribute to proposals, publications, and presentations.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and abilities for successful execution of the responsibilities below.

• Strong knowledge of analog CMOS integrated circuit design principles and transistor-level design.
• Experience designing transistor-level analog circuits in CMOS and developing high-performance analog/RF building blocks.
• Familiarity with mixed-signal ASIC integration, behavioral modeling, and analog/mixed-signal simulation flows.
• Practical experience with IC layout, physical verification (DRC/LVS), and post-layout extraction.
• Proficiency with EDA tools for simulation, layout, and verification.
• Proven ability to lead complex ASIC projects, collaborate across disciplines, develop test plans, and perform silicon debug.
• Effective communication skills and experience mentoring junior engineers.
• Nice-to-have: RF expertise, experience with low-noise amplifier and data-converter design, and familiarity with emerging semiconductor technologies and methodologies.

Education Requirements

Ph.D. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering or Physics with a background in solid-state circuits and integrated circuit design. The posting specifies 2 years of professional experience for Ph.D. holders or 5 years for M.S. holders.

About the Company

Company: Fermilab

Headquarters: Batavia, IL, United States

Fermilab is a U.S. national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics research, developing accelerator and detector technologies and supporting scientific instrumentation for fundamental physics experiments.