Lead physical design engineer

Lead Physical Design Engineer
Company: Siliconus Technologies Private Limited
Location: Bengaluru
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience: 7+Years

Job Summary
Siliconus Technologies is looking for an experienced Lead Physical Design Engineer to lead and manage Physical Design activities across block-level and full-chip projects.

The ideal candidate should have strong hands-on expertise in the RTL-to-GDSII flow, excellent technical leadership skills, and the ability to independently drive PPA optimization, timing closure, physical signoff, project execution, and customer interactions.

Key Responsibilities

● Lead the end-to-end Physical Design flow from netlist to GDSII.
● Own project execution and technical delivery for assigned blocks/projects.
● Lead floorplanning, power planning, placement, CTS, routing, optimization, and signoff activities.
● Drive timing closure for setup and hold across multiple modes and corners.
● Perform and review MCMM STA analysis and resolve timing issues.
● Drive PPA optimization across performance, power, and area targets.
● Analyze and resolve congestion, transition, capacitance, fanout, DRC, and routing violations.
● Drive IR Drop, EM, Signal Integrity, Crosstalk, DRC/LVS and physical signoff activities.
● Lead ECO implementation and timing optimization.
● Work closely with RTL, Synthesis, STA, DFT, PV, and Foundry teams to resolve technical issues.
● Drive block integration and full-chip implementation activities.
● Own tapeout readiness and ensure all signoff criteria are met.
● Provide technical direction, mentoring, and guidance to junior and mid-level Physical Design engineers.
● Review team deliverables and ensure adherence to project methodologies and quality standards.
● Plan task allocation, track project progress, and ensure deliverables are completed within timelines.
● Identify technical risks and proactively develop solutions to avoid project delays.
● Participate in customer meetings, technical discussions, status calls, and project reviews.
● Support estimation, resource planning, and technical proposals for new projects.
● Develop and improve Physical Design methodologies and automation flows.
● Use Tcl / Perl / Python / Shell scripting for flow automation and productivity improvements.
Required Technical Skills
● Strong hands-on experience in the complete RTL-to-GDSII Physical Design flow.

● Expertise in:
○ Floorplanning
○ Power Planning
○ Placement & Optimization
○ CTS
○ Routing
○ Post-route Optimization
○ STA & Timing Closure
○ ECO
○ Physical Verification
○ Signoff

● Strong understanding of MCMM, Setup/Hold, OCV/AOCV/POCV and timing constraints.
● Good knowledge of IR Drop, EM, Signal Integrity and Crosstalk.
● Strong understanding of DRC, LVS, Antenna and other physical signoff checks.
● Strong experience with Tcl scripting; Perl/Python/Shell is an added advantage.
● Hands-on experience with Cadence Innovus / Tempus and/or Synopsys ICC2 / Fusion Compiler / PrimeTime.
● Experience with advanced technology nodes such as 28nm, 16nm, 14nm, 7nm and below is preferred.
● Strong understanding of PPA optimization and design convergence.
Leadership & Management Skills
● Ability to lead a Physical Design team and take complete technical ownership.
● Ability to distribute tasks and track team progress effectively.
● Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
● Ability to review and technically mentor team members.
● Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
● Ability to interact confidently with customers and cross-functional teams.
● Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver projects within committed timelines.
● Should be capable of independently driving a project from implementation through tapeout.

Qualifications

● B.E./B.Tech/M.E./M.Tech in Electronics, Electrical, ECE, VLSI, or related engineering discipline.
● 7+years of relevant Physical Design experience.
● Proven experience leading Physical Design teams/projects.
● Strong block-level and/or full-chip implementation experience.
● Multiple tapeout experience is highly preferred.
Preferred Experience
● Experience working with global semiconductor customers.
● Experience in advanced-node SoC designs.
● Exposure to low-power implementation / UPF.
● Experience in full-chip integration and signoff.
● Strong experience in PPA optimization and timing convergence.
● Experience handling technical escalations and customer issues.
● Experience in building and improving Physical Design methodologies.
What We Offer
● Opportunity to lead advanced semiconductor and SoC projects.
● Exposure to multiple technology nodes and industry-standard EDA tools.
● Opportunity to work on end-to-end RTL-to-GDSII and tapeout projects.
● Technical and leadership growth opportunities.
● Collaborative and engineering-driven work environment.

Join Siliconus Technologies and lead the next generation of semiconductor Physical Design solutions.
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