Staff R&D Engineer

Job Title

Staff R&D Engineer

Role Summary

Staff engineer on the StarRC R&D team responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining core parasitic extraction software used in advanced semiconductor flows.

The role focuses on building capacitance models and extraction algorithms that improve runtime, memory, and capacity, and on collaborating with electromagnetics and verification domain experts to deliver production-grade solutions.

Experience Level

Senior — staff-level role. Candidates should have several years of experience building and debugging production-quality, performance-critical software (typically 3+ years of professional software development experience).

Responsibilities

Primary technical responsibilities include:

• Design, develop, and maintain core components of StarRC, a parasitic extraction tool.
• Develop and refine capacitance models for advanced technology nodes.
• Create and optimize parasitic extraction algorithms to reduce runtime and memory use and to increase capacity.
• Write and improve Python or Tcl scripts to analyze datasets, locate performance bottlenecks, and apply ML/optimization techniques to extraction flows.
• Collaborate with domain experts in electromagnetics, circuit modeling, and verification to define and implement solutions.
• Debug complex issues across a large C++ codebase and deliver fixes that improve stability and accuracy.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience; degrees and academic expectations are listed separately below.

• Strong C++ skills and experience building and debugging performance-critical software in large codebases.
• Solid knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and software development practices (version control, testing, code review).
• Experience working in Linux and using scripting languages such as Python, Tcl, or Perl for automation and analysis.
• Proven ability to diagnose and fix complex bugs across modules in large systems.
• Effective collaboration and communication skills for working with cross-discipline teams.

Nice-to-have:

• Background in numerical mathematics, optimization, machine learning, or computational electromagnetics.
• Prior experience in EDA or physical modeling problems.

Education Requirements

MS with at least 3 years of software development experience, or PhD in a relevant field (algorithms, numerical methods, or related areas). Doctorate or equivalent industry depth is preferred. Equivalent practical experience is acceptable where noted.

About the Company

Company: Synopsys

Headquarters: Mountain View, California, USA

Synopsys is a leading company in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP solutions. It provides tools and services for designing and verifying complex semiconductor devices and systems. The company plays a pivotal role in the semiconductor industry, helping engineers innovate and deliver higher-quality products faster. Synopsys is committed to advancing technology standards and offers a range of software and hardware solutions to its clients globally.