Senior Physical Design Engineer

Job Summary

Key Responsibilities

Lead block-level PNR activities from floorplanning through final routing, ensuring robust physical implementation aligned with timing, power, and area goals.

Drive power grid design and EM / IR-aware routing strategies to ensure block-level power integrity and reliability.

Collaborate closely with timing closure engineers to resolve physical design bottlenecks impacting timing and signal integrity.

Manage and optimize physical verification flows including DRC, LVS, antenna checks, and physical signoff.

Automate PNR flows and develop scripts to improve productivity and design quality.

Mentor and guide junior physical design engineers, fostering technical growth and best practices.

Coordinate with cross-functional teams including RTL design, STA, verification, and backend

integration to ensure seamless block-to-chip integration.

Qualifications and Skills

8+ years of experience in physical design with a strong focus on block-level Place and Route (PNR) for complex SoC / IP subsystems, preferably at advanced technology nodes (16nm, 7nm, 5nm, or below).

Proven expertise in block-level physical implementation including floorplanning, placement, clock tree synthesis (CTS), routing, and physical verification (DRC / LVS).

Hands-on experience with industry-standard PNR tools such as Cadence Innovus, Synopsys ICC2, and Mentor Calibre.

Strong understanding of power grid design, EM / IR analysis, signal integrity (SI), and reliability checks at the block level.

Experience in managing timing closure in coordination with STA teams, resolving congestion, and optimizing for power, performance, and area (PPA).

Proficiency in scripting languages (Tcl, Python, Perl) for flow automation and custom tool development.

Demonstrated ability to lead block PNR efforts, coordinate with RTL designers, physical design teams, and verification groups to meet aggressive tapeout schedules.

Familiarity with low-power design techniques and power-

aware physical implementation.