Senior Lead Physical Design Engineer
QualcommJob Title
Senior Lead Physical Design Engineer
Role Summary
Responsible for full ownership of place-and-route (PNR) implementation for Qualcomm SoCs, delivering floorplanning, placement, CTS, routing and signoff-ready layouts on advanced process nodes.
Work within the Hardware Engineering organization collaborating with timing, power, verification and layout teams to meet performance, power and manufacturability targets.
Experience Level
Senior-level. Typically requires 5+ years of physical design/PNR experience on advanced nodes (4nm/5nm/7nm/10nm).
Responsibilities
Primary responsibilities for the role include:
- Lead PNR implementation: floorplanning, placement, clock-tree synthesis (CTS), routing and post-route optimizations.
- Drive signoff flows and deliverables (static timing analysis, power analysis, functional verification, low-power verification).
- Optimize placement/CTS and resolve timing, congestion and DRC issues for signoff.
- Coordinate with RTL, timing, power and layout teams to meet design targets and manufacturability constraints.
- Develop and maintain automation and scripts to improve PNR flow robustness and turnaround time.
- Troubleshoot complex physical-design issues and provide engineering trade-offs and solutions.
Requirements
Must-have skills and experience for successful candidates:
- 5+ years of hands-on PNR/physical-design experience on advanced process nodes (e.g., 4nm/5nm/7nm/10nm).
- Strong expertise in floorplanning, placement, CTS and post-route optimization.
- Signoff experience with STA, power analysis, functional verification and low-power verification.
- Proficiency with Unix/Linux environments and scripting (Perl, Tcl or similar) to automate flows.
- Practical knowledge of signoff domains such as logic equivalence checking (LEC), clock/legalization/placement (CLP) and PDN considerations.
- Analytical problem-solving skills and ability to learn quickly in a fast-paced SoC environment.
Nice-to-have:
- Experience with tool flows and methodologies specific to large SoC blocks (CPU/GPU/modem).
- Experience improving PNR automation and flow scalability for multiple projects.
Education Requirements
Bachelor's, Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Engineering or a related technical field is listed as acceptable. The posting specifies degree-based minimums (Bachelor's +3 years, Master’s +2 years, PhD +1 year) but also allows equivalent practical work experience.
About the Company
Company: Qualcomm
Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States
Qualcomm is a global leader in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment, specializing in mobile technologies and innovations. Known for its Adreno GPUs, the company provides solutions enabling advancements in mobile gaming, AI, VR/AR, and autonomous driving. Qualcomm's cutting-edge technology and commitment to high-performance, power-efficient designs drive the evolution of mobile graphics and connectivity worldwide.
