Software R&D Engineer, VLSI Physical Design — New College Grad 2026
NVIDIAJob Title
Software R&D Engineer, VLSI Physical Design — New College Grad 2026
Role Summary
Develop and implement VLSI physical-design optimization software used in NVIDIA hardware design flows. Work on algorithms and tools that improve timing, power, and performance across placement, sizing, buffering, clock-tree synthesis, and routing.
Join an R&D software team that researches algorithmic approaches and ships high-performance C++ tools directly into production chip-design flows.
Experience Level
Entry-level / New college graduate. Targeted at 2026 new graduates; candidates may be recent Master’s or PhD graduates or have equivalent practical experience.
Responsibilities
Key responsibilities include:
- Research and implement algorithms for gate-level sizing, buffering, useful clock skew, cell legalization, power minimization, ECO routing, and incremental parasitic extraction.
- Design and optimize high-performance C++ implementations, including multithreading and efficient memory and I/O use.
- Invent and build fused optimization engines that co-optimize traditionally separate physical-design steps to improve PPA (performance, power, area).
- Integrate tools with chip design teams and validate algorithms on advanced process designs and production flows.
- Profile, scale, and tune algorithms for large industrial designs.
Requirements
Must-have:
- Experience developing VLSI physical-design algorithms and implementing them in C++.
- Understanding of VLSI timing optimization concepts: cell libraries, interconnect models, crosstalk, glitches, IR drop, timing constraints, corners, and congestion.
- Familiarity with physical-design and timing tools and typical flows; experience with scripting (Perl, Tcl, Python).
- Strong software engineering skills focused on performance, multithreading, and large-data handling.
Nice-to-have:
- Experience with modern C++ (C++14+), concurrency, and lambda usage.
- Experience designing hybrid engines that fuse multiple physical-design steps.
- Experience with distributed computing or applying ML (reinforcement learning, GNNs) to physical design.
Education Requirements
Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science, 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.
