Interface IP Applications Engineering - Staff Engineer

Job Description and Requirements

We Are

Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity—powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.

You Are

You have spent years deep in the details of SoC and ASIC design, and you know the most valuable problems are solved at the intersection of customer needs, technical feasibility, and execution risk. You can walk into a room with a customer’s design team, uncover the real constraints behind the ask (power, performance, area, schedule, node, packaging, ecosystem), and translate those constraints into an IP solution that will still work months later during integration and bring-up.

This is a pre-sales, customer-facing Applications Engineering (FAE) role. You will partner closely with Sales and cross-functional internal teams to drive technical discovery, solution definition, customer evaluations/POCs, competitive positioning, and technical closure for Interface IP opportunities across Korea.

You do not just answer questions—you ask better ones. When a customer says they need a PCIe solution, you dig into their use case, process node, target data rates, channel assumptions, compliance needs, and timeline before proposing anything. You communicate with credibility: you can discuss SerDes signal integrity with a PHY engineer and then explain the business and risk tradeoffs to leadership without losing the thread.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Own the pre-sales technical lifecycle for Interface IP opportunities across Korea: requirements discovery, solution definition, technical presentations, customer evaluation/POC planning, and technical close
• Work directly with customer SoC architects and design teams to understand requirements and constraints, then recommend the right Interface IP solutions, including SerDes, PCIe, DDR, USB, MIPI, D2D, Ethernet
• Lead technical evaluations and IP selection processes: define success criteria, evaluation plans, configuration recommendations, integration approach, and risk mitigation (performance/power/area/schedule)
• Partner with Sales/Account teams to shape win strategies, qualify opportunities, and align on customer decision process, stakeholders, and timelines
• Drive customer-facing technical engagements such as architecture workshops, deep dives, and design reviews; coordinate follow-ups and ensure action items close on time
• Support competitive situations with strong technical differentiation: develop positioning, handle objections, and guide customers through tradeoffs vs. alternative solutions
• Drive PHY IP porting discussions and technical negotiations across process nodes and customer environments; align scope, assumptions, deliverables, and timelines with internal stakeholders
• Serve as the technical bridge between customers and Synopsys R&D: translate customer issues into actionable engineering requests, drive prioritization, and ensure timely resolution during evaluations and integration
• Contribute technical inputs to proposals and commercial execution, including RFI/RFP responses, technical sections of proposals, and scope/effort inputs (as applicable)
• Organize and facilitate technical forums with customers, Sales, Marketing, Program Management, and Engineering to align on strategy, resolve standoffs, and drive decisions forward
• Track emerging technology trends and customer needs across AI, automotive, and data center segments; feed field insights into product roadmap and go-to-market planning

The Impact You Will Have

• Enable customers to de-risk SoC programs by selecting the right IP early, reducing integration issues and time-to-market delays that can cost months and millions
• Accelerate IP adoption and customer success across Korea, directly influencing design wins and long-term partnerships in a critical semiconductor market
• Increase technical win rates by driving high-quality discovery, evaluation success, and clear technical differentiation in competitive cycles
• Reduce escalations and project friction by proactively identifying gaps between customer expectations and product capabilities, then working across teams to close them
• Strengthen Synopsys credibility with customer engineering teams and executives by providing clear, data-driven recommendations and execution-focused guidance
• Influence IP roadmap and service offerings by representing the field perspective and real customer requirements in internal strategy discussions

What You’ll Need

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, or related field with 12+ years of experience; or Master’s degree with 10+ years in IC design, verification, semiconductor IP, or related areas
• Strong hands-on background in ASIC/SoC design and/or verification, with deep understanding of design flows, integration challenges, and silicon bring-up considerations
• Technical expertise in at least one major Interface IP domain such as SerDes, PCIe, DDR, USB, MIPI, D2D, or Ethernet, with working knowledge of protocols, PHY architecture, and integration requirements
• Proven experience in a customer-facing pre-sales technical role (FAE / Sales Engineer / Applications Engineer / Technical Consultant) supporting evaluations and driving technical closure
• Experience delivering technical presentations and leading customer workshops; ability to translate complex technical concepts clearly to engineering and business stakeholders
• Strong communication skills in Korean and English (written and verbal)
• Ability to work effectively in a matrix organization across Sales, R&D, Product Marketing, and Program Management, driving alignment and decisions without direct authority
• Program management or project leadership experience on complex SoC or IP integration efforts is a plus, especially across multiple sites or time zones

Who You Are

• You can independently diagnose a customer’s integration issue, determine whether it is a design problem, configuration gap, or misunderstanding of the spec, and propose a path forward without escalating everything
• You are comfortable presenting technical recommendations to senior customer executives and defending your position with data, examples, and clear reasoning
• You treat customer engagements as long-term partnerships, building trust and credibility over time
• You stay current on technology trends (chiplets, advanced packaging, AI accelerators, next-gen connectivity) because you are genuinely curious and want to anticipate what customers will need next
• You can manage multiple customer engagements in parallel, keep details straight, and follow through without dropping threads
• You know when to involve R&D, when to loop in Sales, and when to handle issues directly to keep momentum and customer confidence

At Synopsys, we want talented people of every background to feel valued and supported to do their best work. Synopsys considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, military veteran status, or disability.