Senior Physical Design Engineer

Job Title

Senior Physical Design Engineer

Role Summary

Lead physical implementation for complex, low-power ASICs. Work with the ASIC implementation team to define and execute physical design, timing closure, and sign-off while improving digital design flows and tool usage.

Contract role (6+ months, possible extension). Remote work is possible; primary office location Richardson, TX. US Citizen or US Permanent Resident required for ITAR compliance.

Experience Level

Senior — 5+ years of relevant industry experience in VLSI physical design and implementation.

Responsibilities

Accountable for end-to-end physical design implementation and for improving design flows and tool usage.

• Architect system and implementation-level physical design requirements.
• Collaborate with RTL, synthesis, timing, DFT and verification teams to meet project milestones.
• Maintain and enhance digital design flow; diagnose and resolve flow and tool issues in Cadence Genus, Innovus, Tempus.
• Plan and coordinate budget, tool usage, and team effort to achieve project objectives.
• Perform physically aware logic synthesis, floorplanning, placement & routing, parasitic extraction and optimization.
• Drive static timing analysis, power analysis (IR drop), electromigration checks, physical verification and sign-off.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, compliance, and experience.

• 5+ years hands-on experience with high-reliability, low-power VLSI designs.
• 5+ years using Cadence digital/physical implementation tools (Genus, Innovus, Tempus).
• Proficiency with scripting/programming: Perl, C, Tcl.
• Strong understanding of reliability, test, power concepts and design tradeoffs.
• Skilled with Verilog/VHDL RTL and able to modify RTL for timing or power closure.
• Production-proven experience in floorplanning, synthesis, place & route optimization, parasitic extraction, static timing analysis, low-power intent (UPF/CPF), power analysis, IR drop, electromigration, and physical verification/sign-off.
• ITAR compliance approval required; US Citizen or US Permanent Resident status required.
• Nice-to-have: knowledge of MIPI, I2S, CAN protocols.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE/MSEE) with 5+ years of related industry experience as stated in the posting.

About the Company

Company: Chelsea Search Group

Chelsea Search Group is a technical recruiting firm that connects engineering and technology professionals with employers, specializing in semiconductor, SoC, embedded systems, and related hardware/software roles.