Place and Route Design Automation Engineer

207 Altera Semiconductor Technology Canada ULC; Toronto; On-site; CAD 84,000 - 121,000; Full time

Job summary

Altera Semiconductor Technology Canada ULC in Toronto, Ontario, is seeking a Senior Place & Route Design Automation Engineer to advance automated P&R flows for FPGA silicon development. You will collaborate with physical design, CAD, RTL, and cross-geo teams to improve QoR, timing, and scalability.

Ideal candidates have 7+ years in P&R or physical design, strong Tcl, Python, and Unix/Linux experience, and enjoy building robust end-to-end automation in a fast-paced semiconductor environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field.
• 7+ years in Place & Route or physical design in FPGA/ASIC environments.
• Strong coding in Tcl, Python; Unix/Linux experience.

Responsibilities

• Work on Place & Route tools, flows, and methodologies for FPGA silicon design.
• Develop new P&R flows and tool enhancements for next-gen design.
• Maintain and improve existing automation flows and infrastructure.
• Provide end-user support for flow tools and best practices.

Skills

Tcl scripting

Python scripting

Unix/Linux

Automation design

Flow debugging

Education

Bachelor's degree in EE/CE/CS

Tools

Synopsys P&R

Cadence P&R

Job description

Job Details: Job Description

About Altera At Altera, our independence as the world's largest pure-play FPGA solutions provider gives us the focus, speed, and agility to innovate without compromise. With more than four decades of industry-leading FPGA expertise, our singular mission is to deliver the programmable technologies that help customers differentiate, innovate, and scale across rapidly evolving markets like AI, cloud, networking, and edge. As an independent company, we move faster, invest deeper, and partner more closely - empowering our teams to drive breakthrough innovation and shape the future of the FPGA industry.

About the Role

Altera is seeking a motivated Senior Place & Route (P&R) Design Automation Engineer to join our Design Methodology and Automation organization. In this role, you will contribute to the development and support of automated P&R tools, flows, and methodologies used in next-generation FPGA silicon development. You will collaborate closely with physical design, CAD, and cross-functional engineering teams to improve quality of results (QoR), runtime efficiency, and overall flow robustness. This role is well-suited for an engineer with hands-on P&R or physical design experience who is looking to deepen technical expertise in semiconductor design automation.

Key Responsibilities

• Work on Place & Route tools, flows, and methodologies for FPGA silicon design development.
• Contribute to the development of new methodologies for next-generation Place & Route flows and tool enhancements.
• Help maintain and improve existing P&R automation flows and infrastructure.
• Provide end-user support for flow tools, including debugging issues and promoting best practices.
• Develop and enhance scripts and automation utilities to improve usability, efficiency, and scalability.
• Support improvements in P&R quality of results (timing, power, congestion, density, and overall design closure).
• Assist in evaluating and testing new P&R tool capabilities and methodologies.
• Identify design or flow bottlenecks and implement practical optimizations.
• Collaborate closely with multi-geo teams across physical design, RTL, synthesis, and CAD to ensure robust end-to-end flow support.
• Document methodologies, flow updates, and usage guidelines.

Salary Range

We use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for the position. This posting is for an existing vacancy. Canadian work experience is not required for this role. Applicants must be eligible for any required Canada export authorizations. #LI-MD1. Estimated Salary Range: $83,500 - 120,925 CAD.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, with 7+ years of industry experience in semiconductor design or design automation.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in Place & Route (P&R), physical design, or design automation within FPGA or ASIC development environments.
• 7+ years of experience working with Place & Route tools and strong applied knowledge of P&R algorithms, methodologies, and design flows.
• 7+ years of experience using industry-standard EDA vendor tools (e.g., Synopsys and Cadence P&R tool suites) in production design environments.
• 7+ years of strong coding experience in Tcl, Perl, and Python for automation, scripting, and tool integration.
• 7+ years of experience working in Unix/Linux development environments.
• 7+ years of experience applying physical design fundamentals, including floorplanning, placement, clocking, routing, and static timing analysis (STA).
• 7+ years of experience debugging and resolving tool, flow, or design issues in a collaborative engineering environment.
• 7+ years of experience collaborating with cross-functional and/or multi-geo engineering teams to support design execution.

Job Type

Regular Shift: Shift 1 (Canada) Primary Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Additional Locations:

Posting Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation or ordinance.

About Altera

Altera: Accelerating Innovators Altera provides leadership programmable solutions that are easy-to-use and deploy in applications from cloud to edge, offering limitless AI possibilities. Our end-to-end broad portfolio of products including FPGAs, CPLDs, Intellectual Property, development tools, System on Modules, SmartNICs and IPUs provide the flexibility to accelerate innovation. Altera is helping to shape the future through pioneering innovation that unlocks extraordinary possibilities for everyone on the planet.