Senior Staff Physical Design Engineer (Cores)

Job Title

Senior Staff Physical Design Engineer (Cores)

Role Summary

Lead physical-design efforts for CPU core projects, owning Power/Performance/Area tradeoffs and implementation details across floorplan, timing, and power. Work on cross-functional CPU cores teams and collaborate with technology, design, and verification peers.

This is a senior technical and people-lead role focused on driving high-speed microprocessor physical design and improving design productivity through tooling and automation, including AI-assisted tools.

Experience Level

Senior-level role. Preference stated for engineers with significant prior experience in physical design and leadership; the posting indicates a preferred 5+ years of relevant experience and experience leading senior engineers.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include technical leadership, cross-functional coordination, and advancing physical design implementation:

• Serve as primary technical contact for assigned focus area and represent physical-design concerns in reviews.
• Lead and mentor engineers; provide technical direction and elevate team capability.
• Collaborate across CPU cores, technology, and design teams to identify, quantify, and mitigate complex technical risks.
• Drive floorplan, area, timing target, and power-target refinement with design teams.
• Perform and validate full-chip floorplanning and timing closure activities.
• Quantify impacts of technology issues and propose mitigation strategies during design reviews.
• Use and help build AI/agentic tools to improve individual and team productivity.

Requirements

Core technical and leadership requirements. Education items are listed separately below.

• Proven experience in physical design for high-speed microprocessor or similar complex ICs.
• Deep understanding of Power, Performance, and Area tradeoffs and implementation practices.
• Experience with full-chip floor planning and full-chip timing methodologies and flows.
• Practical knowledge of physical-design tools, flows, and custom circuit design considerations.
• Strong communication, presentation, and cross-functional collaboration skills; experience briefing technical audiences and executives.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical teams and mentor senior/junior engineers.
• Preferred: experience with DRC/LVS at partition or full-chip level, knowledge of current sub-micron technologies, and ability to design new flows or architectures to meet targets.
• Preferred: experience applying or developing AI/automation tools to improve design productivity.

Education Requirements

Electrical Engineering degree preferred; the posting indicates an "Electrical Engineering Degree with 5+ years of experience preferred." (Education phrasing listed as preferred rather than mandatory.)

About the Company

Company: Advanced Micro Devices

Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California, USA

Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures microprocessors, graphics processors, and related technologies for a variety of computing devices. Known for pushing the boundaries of innovation, AMD's mission is to deliver high-performance computing solutions for AI, data centers, gaming, and embedded applications. They foster a collaborative, inclusive culture focused on creativity and problem-solving, aiming to drive progress and excellence in technology.