ESD Design Expert

NXP Semiconductors; Toulouse; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

The ACC CTO ESD/EMC Team at NXP Semiconductors leads robustness initiatives and defines advanced ESD protection solutions across multiple product lines. As an ESD Design Expert, you will influence architecture and mentor engineers to shape the future ESD & EMC strategy for automotive and industrial products.

You will drive design methodologies, collaborate with EMC and technology teams, and develop AI-assisted approaches to improve robustness early in development.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics, Semiconductor Physics, or related discipline.
• 10+ years in ESD/analog IC design or ESD protection expertise.
• Experience with automotive and high-reliability semiconductor products is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive ESD protection strategies, architectures, and roadmaps for new product families and emerging technologies.
• Lead the design, optimization, and validation of advanced on-chip ESD protection solutions for analog, mixed-signal, high-voltage, and automotive ICs.
• Establish ESD design methodologies, rules, best practices, and reusable design libraries.
• Provide technical leadership during product development, balancing reliability, performance, silicon area, power, and cost.
• Drive ESD sign-off reviews and support critical design decisions across programs.
• Lead complex ESD investigations, characterization campaigns, failure analysis, and root-cause assessments.
• Partner with EMC experts to develop holistic chip and system-level robustness solutions.
• Collaborate with technology development teams to define future ESD devices and process capabilities.
• Develop advanced simulation, modeling, automation, and AI-assisted methodologies to improve design efficiency and predict robustness issues earlier.
• Act as the technical interface for customer escalations and strategic robustness challenges.
• Drive innovation through patents, publications, university partnerships, and technology research programs.
• Mentor engineers, fostering technical excellence and knowledge sharing.

Skills

ESD protection design

Analog IC design

EMC/Robustness

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering or related

Tools

EDA simulation tools

Device modeling

Silicon debugging

Job description

Role Summary

The ACC CTO ESD/EMC Team drives robustness excellence across NXP's product portfolio by enabling First-Pass-Right product development through advanced EMC and ESD methodologies, innovative design solutions, validation capabilities, and technology leadership. As an ESD Design Expert, you will serve as a recognized technical leader responsible for defining and deploying advanced ESD protection solutions across multiple product lines and semiconductor technologies. Leveraging your extensive experience in analog IC design, ESD protection, and product robustness, you will influence architecture decisions, drive innovation, mentor engineers, and shape the future ESD & EMC strategy for NXP's automotive and industrial products. You will collaborate closely with technology development, product lines, validation teams, package engineering, and system architects to deliver highly robust and competitive semiconductor solutions. ESD: ElectroStatic Discharge, EMC: ElectroMagnetic Compatibility.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive ESD protection strategies, architectures, and roadmaps for new product families and emerging technologies.
• Lead the design, optimization, and validation of advanced on-chip ESD protection solutions for analog, mixed-signal, high-voltage, and automotive integrated circuits.
• Establish ESD design methodologies, rules, best practices, and reusable design libraries across the organization.
• Provide technical leadership during product development, ensuring First-Pass-Right robustness while balancing reliability, performance, silicon area, power consumption, and cost.
• Drive ESD sign-off reviews and support critical design decisions across multiple development programs.
• Lead complex ESD investigations, characterization campaigns, failure analysis activities, and root-cause assessments.
• Partner with EMC experts to develop holistic chip and system-level robustness solutions.
• Collaborate with technology development teams to define future ESD devices and process capabilities.
• Develop advanced simulation, modeling, automation, and AI-assisted methodologies to improve design efficiency and predict robustness issues earlier in the development cycle.
• Act as the technical interface for customer escalations and strategic robustness challenges.
• Drive innovation through patents, publications, university partnerships, and technology research programs.
• Mentor and coach design engineers, fostering technical excellence and knowledge sharing across the organization.

Profile Education

Master's Degree or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics, Semiconductor Physics, or a related discipline.

Experience & Technical Skills

• 10 to 20 years of experience in ESD protection design, or analog/mixed-signal IC design, EMC-aware analog design knowledge is a plus.
• Deep expertise in semiconductor device physics and analog integrated circuit design.
• Proven experience developing ESD protection solutions for analog, mixed-signal, high-voltage, power management, automotive products, or communication transceivers.
• Strong knowledge of ESD and robustness standards including HBM, CDM, IEC 61000-4-2, ISO 10605, TLP, VF-TLP, latch-up, and system-level ESD requirements.
• Extensive experience with EDA simulation tools, device modeling, and silicon debug.
• Strong understanding of chip-package-system interactions and robustness challenges.
• Experience with advanced technologies such as CMOS, BCD, SOI, FinFET, or high-voltage processes.
• Proven track record of solving complex reliability and robustness challenges in production products.
• Experience leading technical projects and influencing cross-functional engineering teams.

Personal Skills

• Recognized technical leadership and ability to influence strategic decisions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a structured approach to complex technical challenges.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work effectively across global and multidisciplinary organization.
• Strong mentoring and coaching capabilities.
• Passion for innovation, continuous improvement, and technology leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Recognized expert in ESD, EMC, or analog IC design.
• Experience in automotive functional safety and high-reliability semiconductor products.
• Track record of patents, technical publications, conference presentations, or industry contributions.
• Experience defining corporate design methodologies, standards, or technology roadmaps.
• Knowledge of AI-assisted circuit design, automation, data analytics, or machine learning applications for semiconductor development.

Impact

In this role, you will play a key role in shaping NXP's ESD robustness strategy, enabling industry-leading reliability and First-Pass-Right success for next-generation automotive and industrial semiconductor solutions. As a technical expert within the ACC CTO organization, you will influence technologies, products, methodologies, and engineering excellence across the company.

More information about NXP in France…

#LI-7795 NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) enables a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through innovation. As the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is pushing boundaries in the automotive, industrial & IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. For more information, visit www.nxp.com Bright Minds. Bright Futures. We believe that a key component to growing our business is to develop our people. To enable you to grow your career at NXP, we offer online and offline learning opportunities to help you develop some of your core and professional skills.

Commitment

At NXP. We recognize NXP is a powerful change agent as we continue to deliver innovative solutions that advance a more sustainable future. We remain steadfast in our commitment to sustainability and making measurable year-on-year progress. Also, we aim to create an inclusive work environment and we will not tolerate racism, discrimination or harassment of any kind. We have programs in place focused on diversity, inclusion and equality.