Senior Physical Design Engineer

Intel Intel · Semiconductors · Penang, Malaysia

Senior Physical Design Engineer responsible for the end-to-end physical design implementation of custom IP and SoC designs, from RTL to GDS, optimizing for power, frequency, and area. This role involves synthesis, place and route, timing analysis, verification, and contributing to the automation of physical design methodologies.

What you'd actually do

  1. Execute physical design implementation of custom IP and SoC designs, taking them from RTL to GDS for manufacturing-readiness.
  2. Conduct all aspects of the physical design flow, including synthesis, place and route, clock tree synthesis, floor planning, static timing analysis, power and clock distribution, and noise analysis.
  3. Perform verification and signoff processes, such as formal equivalence verification, reliability verification, and layout verification, ensuring compliance with electrical rules and design standards.
  4. Analyze results to identify and resolve violations, providing recommendations to improve current and future product architectures.
  5. Optimize designs to achieve desired power, frequency, and area targets while balancing product-level requirements.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related specialized field.
  • 10+ years of experience in physical design implementation with a Bachelor's degree, 8+ years with a Master's degree, or 6+ years with a PhD.
  • Proficiency in industry-standard EDA tools for synthesis, place and route, timing analysis, formal verification, and design closure.
  • Expertise in scripting languages such as Python, Perl, and TCL for design flow automation and optimization.
  • Solid understanding of RTL-to-GDS (Graphic Design System) methodologies and workflows.
  • Knowledge of power integrity, clock distribution, reliability verification, and DFT techniques.

Nice to have

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a disciplined approach to execution.
  • Experience with low-power design techniques, including UPF implementation and verification.
  • Familiarity with system and processor architectures, and their interactions with software.
  • In-depth knowledge of industry standard IPs like ARM designs.
  • Exposure to formal verification and hardware validation techniques.
  • Proven ability to collaborate effectively with teams, driving innovative solutions and continuous process improvements.

What the JD emphasized

  • 10+ years of experience in physical design implementation with a Bachelor's degree, 8+ years with a Master's degree, or 6+ years with a PhD.