Senior Software R&D Engineer, VLSI Physical Design

Job Title

Senior Software R&D Engineer, VLSI Physical Design

Role Summary

Develop and deliver algorithms and production software for VLSI physical design, including placement, global routing, floorplanning, computational geometry, and visualization. Work with NVIDIA chip design teams to integrate tools that define physical layout, performance, and efficiency of AI hardware.

Experience Level

Senior — typically 6+ years of software development experience, including substantial C++ and domain experience in VLSI/CAD.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include building and deploying algorithms and tools for chip physical design.

• Design, implement, optimize, and deploy tools for placement, reshaping, and route optimization.
• Create algorithms for computational geometry, placement, fast routing, and graph optimization.
• Develop and apply machine learning strategies to improve design-space exploration efficiency.
• Extend GUIs and visualization/debugging tools to improve designer insight and workflows.
• Collaborate with hardware and design teams to validate tools on real designs and drive production adoption.

Requirements

Key technical skills and experience. Degree information is summarized separately under Education Requirements.

• 6+ years of software development experience with C++ (production code).
• Strong understanding of computational geometry, placement, routing, and graph theory.
• Experience with CAD software concepts and VLSI hardware design.
• Familiarity with implementation tools such as ICC2 and Innovus.
• Proven experience in algorithm development for physical design, analysis, and visualization.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

• Experience with C++14/C++17 features (lambdas, concurrency).
• High-performance software design: multithreading, distributed computing, efficient memory and I/O use.
• Track record of improving PPA through software-driven optimization.

Education Requirements

BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field — or equivalent practical experience.

About the Company

Company: NVIDIA

Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, USA

NVIDIA is a global leader in accelerated computing, renowned for its innovative solutions in AI and digital twins that transform diverse industries. The company specializes in networking technologies, providing end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions for servers and storage that optimize performance and scalability. NVIDIA serves sectors such as high-performance computing, enterprise data centers, and cloud computing, constantly reinventing its products and services to stay ahead in the market.