Sr Principal Design Engineer

Job Title

Sr Principal Design Engineer

Role Summary

The Sr Principal Design Engineer is responsible for the physical implementation and optimization of IP, subsystems, or full ICs from RTL synthesis through GDS. The role owns floorplanning, placement and routing, timing convergence (STA), ECO implementation, and physical verification to meet technology and reliability rules (DRC/LVS/EM/IR).

Works within the digital physical design organization to resolve implementation issues and to define physical design strategy per technology node.

Experience Level

Senior-level. The job title indicates a senior/principal position; years of experience are not specified.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead physical implementation from RTL synthesis to GDS for IP, subsystems, or SoCs.
• Perform floorplanning, placement & routing, and timing closure using STA.
• Execute design ECOs and iterations to meet timing and area targets.
• Perform and supervise physical verification and signoff checks (DRC, LVS, EM, IR drop).
• Investigate and resolve physical design issues and silicon-implementation problems.
• Define and recommend physical design strategies and flows per technology node.

Requirements

Must-have and preferred skills:

• Must-have: Hands-on experience in digital physical implementation (RTL-to-GDS) including floorplanning, place-and-route, STA timing convergence, ECOs, and physical verification (DRC/LVS/EM/IR).
• Must-have: Experience resolving physical implementation issues and delivering optimized designs across technology nodes.
• Nice-to-have: Experience with IP/subsystem-level implementations and defining technology-node-specific strategies.
• Nice-to-have: Familiarity with common EDA physical design tools and automation/scripting for flow improvements.

Education Requirements

Not specified.

About the Company

Company: NXP Semiconductors

Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.