Principal Digital Design Engineer - MCU

NXP Semiconductors; Sicilia; On-site; EUR 61,000 - 84,000; Full time

Job summary

NXP Semiconductors in Italy (Catania) is seeking an outstanding Digital IC Design Lead to drive the full SOC RTL design flow, verification, and post-silicon routines for high-performance MCU/SOC devices. You will mentor engineers and collaborate with analog, mixed-signal, and software teams to ensure top-quality outcomes.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years in digital IC design, deep Verilog/SystemVerilog expertise, and hands-on experience with industry tools (Design Compiler, Genus, Primetime,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical or Electronics Engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in digital IC design with a proven project track record.
• Expertise in Verilog/SystemVerilog for RTL design and verification.
• Experience with industry-standard EDA tools for synthesis, STA, formal verification, and simulation.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full digital IC design flow for SOC, including RTL definition, synthesis, STA, formal verification, and power analysis.
• Contribute to DFT implementation and verification.
• Collaborate with analog, mixed-signal, and software teams to define interfaces and optimize performance.
• Develop innovative digital architectures to meet performance, power, and area targets.
• Perform comprehensive design verification using simulation, formal methods, and emulation.
• Participate in post-silicon validation and debugging to ensure product quality.
• Mentor junior engineers and drive process improvements in design methodologies.
• Generate detailed design documentation and maintain design reviews.

Skills

Verilog/SystemVerilog

RTL design

Digital IC design

Python scripting

CDC & power integrity

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical/Electronics Engineering

Tools

Synopsys Design Compiler

Cadence Genus

Primetime

Synopsys Formality

VCS/QuestaSim

Job description

NXP’s Industrial & IoT Edge solutions range from the smallest MCUs to very high-performance processors to provide real-time insights and efficient automation when performance matters most. NXP’s advanced portfolio of edge processing solutions lets developers explore their most innovative ideas with confidence, enabling applications across the autonomous home, industrial automation, and personal electronics. NXP is building new teams in Catania to create high impact micro-controllers (MCU) as part of NXP’s intelligent AI at the Edge. This team will include a wide range of engineering talent from analog to SOC digital design. Full product development local will product world class products at a world class pace. This team will include all key engineering disciplines in Analog and Digital Design, Architecture definition, Verification, DfT and Physical Design to produce high performance and quality products. Working in a fast-paced environment, we are looking for an outstanding digital design lead for our MCU SOC R&D team.

Your Responsibilities

• Lead and execute the full digital IC design flow for complex System-on-Chip (SOC), including specification definition, architectural design, RTL coding (Verilog/SystemVerilog), synthesis, static timing analysis (STA), formal verification, and power analysis.
• Contribute to design for testability (DFT) implementation and verification.
• Collaborate closely with analog, mixed-signal, and software teams to define interfaces, optimize system performance and ensure seamless integration.
• Develop and implement innovative digital architectures and design methodologies to meet challenging performance, power, and area targets.
• Perform comprehensive design verification using simulation tools, formal verification techniques, and hardware emulation.
• Participate in post-silicon validation and debug activities, identifying and resolving issues to ensure product quality.
• Mentor junior engineers, provide technical guidance, and contribute to continuous improvement of design processes and methodologies.
• Generate detailed design documentation, including specifications, test plans, and design reviews.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in digital IC design methodology shared in the team.

Your Profile

• Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum of 10+ years of experience in digital IC design, with a strong portfolio of successfully completed projects.
• Expertise in Verilog/SystemVerilog for RTL design and verification.
• Proven experience with industry-standard EDA tools for synthesis, STA (e.g., Synopsys Design Compiler, Cadence Genus, Primetime), formal verification (e.g., Synopsys Formality), and simulation (e.g., VCS, QuestaSim).
• Strong understanding of digital design principles, clock domain crossing (CDC) issues, power integrity, and low-power design techniques.
• Experience with scripting languages (e.g., Python, Perl, Tcl) for automation and design flow optimization.
• Familiarity with mixed-signal integration challenges and verification methodologies.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and debugging skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.
• Ability to take initiative, work independently, and lead technical discussions.

NXP is committed to equal pay for equal work and work of equal value and applies fair, consistent and transparent remuneration practices. As of the date of this posting, the estimated gross annual base salary range for this position in Italy is between 61,000 € and 83,900 € annually. This range is intended as a guideline. Actual compensation may vary based on qualifications, experience, skills, and specific business or organizational needs. This position falls under the applicable National Collective Labour Agreement (Metalmeccanica Industria). Where relevant, the total compensation package may also include additional elements such as annual incentive opportunities and/or equity, along with a competitive benefits package.

More information about NXP in Italy...

#LI-6710 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.

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. Thank you for considering a career at NXP.