Physical Design/Implementation Engineer-Staff

Company

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Job Area

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > ASICS Engineering

General Summary

Experience: 5 to 10 years of hands-on experience in Synthesis, Place and Route (PnR), Physical Design, and Timing/Power Signoff.

Job Role

• Should have strong understanding and in-depth knowledge of Physical Synthesis, and methodologies, Floorplanning, Placement, Clock Tree Synthesis (CTS), Routing, with leading industry standard tools — able to work across the synthesis-to-PnR boundary to drive end-to-end PPA optimization rather than treat it as a handoff.
• Hands-on experience on advanced technology nodes, including node-specific challenges around double/multi-patterning, pin access, cell legalization, and advanced DRC rules.
• Experience with writing and tuning timing constraints for synthesis, STA, timing closure, and pipelining at different levels for performance optimization — and carrying that intent cleanly through to physical closure.
• Primary focus on driving PPA activities: aggressive area recovery, leakage/dynamic power reduction, and Fmax/performance pushes, balancing trade-offs across synthesis QoR and physical implementation.
• Experience in all aspects of timing closure for multi-clock domain, multi-corner multi-mode (MCMM) designs, both at synthesis and at the physical design stage.
• Should have good understanding of low-power design implementation using UPF, including power gating, multi-voltage domains, and level shifter/isolation cell placement/routing.
• Experience with different power optimization flows/techniques across synthesis and PD — such as clock gating, cell sizing, Vt swapping, and buffer/inverter insertion/optimization.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.

OR

Master's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field and 3+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.

OR

PhD in Science, Engineering, or related field and 2+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science.
• 6+ years of ASIC design, verification, validation, integration, or related work experience.
• 2+ years of experience with architecture and design tools.
• 2+ years of experience with scripting tools and programming languages.
• 2+ years of experience with design verification methods.
• 1+ year of work experience in a role requiring interaction with senior leadership (e.g., Director level and above).

Skill Set

• Proficiency in Python/Tcl and AI Usage. Familiarity with standard software engineering practices like Version Control, Configuration Management, and Regression.
• Familiar with PnR tools (Innovus/ICC2) and Synthesis tools (Fusion Compiler/Genus), with the ability to move fluidly between both to close PPA.
• Proven hands-on experience on advanced nodes , with awareness of node-specific PPA levers and physical constraints.
• Fair knowledge of Static Timing Analysis (PrimeTime/Tempus), LEC, and Low Power (LP) signoff tools.
• Proficient in VLSI front-end and back-end design steps — Synthesis, QoR optimization, floorplanning, placement, CTS, routing, and Equivalence Checking.
• Strong PPA mindset — comfortable owning power, performance, and area metrics as primary KPIs.
• Knowledge of computer architecture and experience in high-speed, low-power processor design will be a plus.

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Pay Range And Other Compensation & Benefits

$145,600.00 - $218,400.00

The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer – and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.

If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.