Senior Physical Design Lead - RTL to GDSII Mastery

IC Resources; Zürich; On-site; CHF 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

IC Resources is seeking a Lead Physical Design Engineer to own the RTL-to-GDSII flow for complex IP and SoC subsystems. This hands-on leadership role defines methodologies and drives execution while scaling a new backend team around you.

You will shape the physical design strategy from the ground up and bridge digital design, custom design, and verification teams. The position emphasizes PPA, timing closure, and cross-domain collaboration in Zurich.

Qualifications

• End-to-end ownership of RTL-to-GDSII flow from synthesis to sign-off.
• Leadership of a backend team and cross-functional collaboration.
• Automation of flows using Tcl/Python and CI/CD practices.
• Experience with timing closure and PPA across multiple corners.

Responsibilities

• End-to-end ownership: RTL-to-GDSII flow — synthesis through place & route, CTS, STA, sign-off.
• Define, maintain, and automate robust implementation flow with constraints and sign-off checks.
• Drive timing and power closure, lead ECO cycles, ensure correlation between synthesis, P&R, and sign-off.
• Manage integration of macros, SRAMs, and I/O including clocking, CDC, and hierarchical designs.
• Own power intent definition and implementation, including isolation and level-shifting strategies.
• Build and mentor a backend team (5+ engineers), define ownership areas, establish sign-off standards.
• Develop reproducible, automated flows using Tcl/Python, CI/CD, dashboards for improvement.
• Collaborate with foundry partners on PDK updates and reliability rules.

Skills

End-to-end RTL-to-GDSII flow ownership

Leadership of backend teams

Automation with Tcl/Python

PPA & timing closure expertise

Tools

Synopsys

Cadence

Tcl/Python scripting

Job description

IC Resources is seeking a Lead Physical Design Engineer to own the RTL-to-GDSII flow for complex IP and SoC subsystems. This hands-on leadership role defines methodologies and drives execution while scaling a new backend team around you.

You will shape the physical design strategy from the ground up and bridge digital design, custom design, and verification teams. The position emphasizes PPA, timing closure, and cross-domain collaboration in Zurich.