Senior Backend Design Automation Engineer — New Process Node Enablement

Job Title

Senior Backend Design Automation Engineer — New Process Node Enablement

Role Summary

Senior member of the Design Automation group responsible for end-to-end bring-up, qualification, and production deployment of Back-End design automation flows for new process nodes. Acts as the primary technical owner translating foundry PDKs and technology collateral into validated, production-ready Back-End flows and supporting designers through tape-out.

Works with design leads, technology enablement teams, and global Design Automation peers to deliver scalable methodologies, regression validation, and ongoing production support.

Experience Level

Senior-level. The role requires substantial industry experience; the posting specifies 8+ years of professional experience in Back-End IC design or design automation.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include new-node bring-up, production support, and flow modernization.

• Own bring-up, qualification, and production deployment of Back-End flows for new process nodes and technology releases.
• Partner with design leads, domain reps, and technology teams to define and implement scalable Back-End methodologies.
• Integrate and qualify PDKs, standard-cell libraries, Foundation IP, and other technology collateral; update tool configurations and flow scripts.
• Develop, maintain, and run regression test suites to validate flow functionality and drive resolution of failures before release.
• Support Back-End teams through production use and tape-out: deployment, debug, user support, training, and documentation.
• Contribute to consolidation and modernization of Back-End construction, verification, and analysis into a unified environment with managed workspaces.
• Collaborate with distributed Design Automation teams to align technical decisions and enable process nodes across projects.
• Evaluate and apply AI/ML techniques and AI-assisted tools to improve regression analysis, debug, runtime/resource prediction, and knowledge capture.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience (concise):

• 8+ years owning, developing, or supporting production Back-End design flows, including PDK installation/setup, custom design construction, circuit simulation, cell characterization, physical verification (DRC/LVS), RC extraction, static timing analysis, IR/EM, or power analysis.
• Experience bringing up or migrating design environments to new process nodes: integrating and qualifying PDKs, standard-cell libraries, and technology collateral.
• Proven use of industry-standard Back-End EDA tools (vendors such as Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens).
• Strong software and automation skills: Python, Tcl, shell scripting, or similar; solid understanding of algorithms and data structures; experience releasing production flows through a formal process.
• Experience with Linux/UNIX environments, distributed compute infrastructure, and job schedulers; managing large-scale design and regression workloads.
• Track record of partnering with IC design teams as internal customers: gathering requirements, deploying flows, supporting tape-out, and producing training/documentation.
• Experience coordinating technical decisions across geographically distributed teams and communicating complex technical concepts to engineering audiences and management.
• Ability to develop and execute regression test cases and drive issues to resolution prior to production release.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience applying AI/ML to design automation tasks (runtime/resource prediction, failure summarization, automated debug).
• Hands-on experience modernizing or consolidating flow infrastructure and managed workspace environments.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field. The role specifies these degrees along with 8+ years of professional Back-End IC design or design automation experience.

About the Company

Company: Altera

Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Altera provides leadership programmable solutions for applications ranging from cloud to edge, unveiling limitless AI possibilities. Their extensive product portfolio includes FPGAs, CPLDs, Intellectual Property, development tools, and System on Modules aimed at accelerating innovation in various fields.