CPU Physical Design Engineer

Salary Range: 125000 to 250000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

What you'll do

Analyze CPU microarchitecture (pipeline stages, execution units, cache hierarchy, branch prediction) to guide implementation tradeoffs on timing, power, and area

Develop and own gate-level design for CPU blocks: standard-cell selection, logic restructuring, and clock-domain/reset architecture

Perform transistor-level design and custom circuit work for critical-path structures (register files, custom datapaths, memory arrays, high-speed logic)

Drive logic synthesis, floorplanning, power planning, placement, clock-tree synthesis (CTS), and routing to closure

Own static timing analysis (STA), signal integrity, IR drop/electromigration analysis, and physical/electrical signoff

Debug and close timing, power, and DRC/LVS violations across corners and modes

Collaborate with RTL design, DFT, verification, and package/system teams to co-optimize PPA (power, performance, area)

Develop and improve physical design flows, scripts, and methodologies to boost QoR and turnaround time

Participate in design reviews, correlate silicon results with pre-silicon predictions, and drive root-cause debug of PPA gaps

What we're looking for

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field

5+ years of industry experience in CPU or high-performance ASIC physical design

Strong understanding of CPU microarchitecture: pipelines, out-of-order execution, caches, branch prediction, and interconnect

Hands-on experience with gate-level design, including standard-cell logic design and clock/reset architecture

Working knowledge of transistor-level/custom circuit design for high-speed and low-power structures

Proven track record driving synthesis and place-and-route (P&R) to timing, power, and area closure on complex blocks

Solid grasp of static timing analysis (STA), signal integrity, and physical verification (DRC/LVS)

Proficiency with industry-standard EDA tools for synthesis, P&R, and signoff (see Tools & Technologies)

Scripting proficiency in Tcl, Perl, or Python for flow automation

Strong analytical and debugging skills, with the ability to work through cross-corner, cross-mode PPA tradeoffs