ASIC Physical Design Engineer - DFT, Senior

Positron Corporation; United States; Remote; USD 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellness

401(k) with company matching

Remote-first culture

Unlimited PTO

Equity

Job summary

Positron AI is seeking a Senior DFT Engineer to own end-to-end DFT for a dedicated AI inference accelerator. You will define the DFT micro-architecture, integrate it into internal RTL and third‑party IP, and drive pre-silicon validation and tapeout with a senior hardware team.

You will collaborate across RTL, verification, physical design, firmware, and validation to ensure correct, compliant, and high-quality silicon bring-up. International and national talent welcome.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical or Computer Engineering.
• 8+ years of ASIC development experience.
• Hands-on DFT implementation on complex SoCs with multiple tapeouts.
• Deep understanding of scan architectures, ATPG, memory BIST, boundary scan, IJTAG, and coverage analysis.
• Experience with Siemens Tessent DFT solutions is required.
• Strong RTL design skills using Verilog/SystemVerilog; gate-level verification experience.
• Strong scripting in Python, Tcl, or Perl; excellent RTL/silicon debugging.
• Ability to drive technical execution across cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Hands-on DFT implementation: define micro-architecture, integrate into RTL and third-party IP.
• Drive pre-silicon DFT verification with ATPG strategies and coverage targets.
• Collaborate with Physical Design for successful tapeout and power-aware test.
• Cross-functional execution with RTL, verification, physical design, firmware, and validation teams.
• Leverage AI tools to improve DFT reviews, coverage analysis, and automation.

Skills

DFT implementation

RTL design

Python scripting

Debugging silicon

Cross-functional leadership

Tapeout experience

ATPG/DFx

Synthesis & gate-level verification

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Electrical or Computer Engineering

Tools

Tessent

RTLpro/Scanpro

Job description

Role Overview

As Senior DFT Engineer, you’ll own DFT implementation end-to-end: defining the DFT micro-architecture for our accelerators, developing and integrating it into internal RTL and third-party IP, driving implementation with our backend design partner, and ensuring high-quality silicon bring-up through comprehensive pre-silicon validation. This is a hands-on, technical ownership role from definition through tapeout and into first silicon, not a coordination role.

Key Responsibilities

Hands-on DFT Implementation

• Micro-architect and implement DFT instrumentation logic, including scan insertion, compression, ATPG, memory BIST, boundary scan (IEEE 1149.x), IJTAG (IEEE 1687) infrastructure, and debug/observability features.
• Integrate DFT IP into internally developed RTL, and evaluate and integrate DFT capabilities from third-party IP providers.
• Work directly in RTL, synthesis, and DFT tool flows.

Drive Pre-Silicon DFT Verification

• Develop comprehensive DFT verification plans and validate DFT functionality through simulation and gate-level verification.
• Drive stuck-at, transition, cell-aware, and power-aware ATPG strategies, ensuring DFx coverage targets are achieved before tapeout.

Partner with Physical Design

• Work closely with backend implementation teams to ensure successful physical realization of the DFT architecture.
• Guide scan chain partitioning, compression planning, and test clock architecture.
• Address power-aware test implementation, timing closure considerations, and test mode integration.

Cross-Functional Execution

• Partner closely with RTL design, design verification, physical design, package and test engineering, firmware, system software, and silicon validation to ensure DFT solutions are correct, compliant, complete, and consistent through silicon bring-up.

AI-Enabled Engineering

• Leverage modern AI tools to improve engineering productivity, including automated review of DFT reports, ATPG and coverage analysis, regression triage, documentation generation, workflow automation, and agentic engineering assistants.

Required Qualifications

• A BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering.
• 8+ years of ASIC development experience.
• Extensive hands-on DFT implementation experience on complex SoCs, with multiple successful production tapeouts.
• Deep understanding of scan architectures and their implementation, including ATPG, memory BIST (including repair), boundary scan, IJTAG, EDT, various fault models, and structural coverage analysis.
• Hands-on experience with Siemens Tessent DFT solutions (SSN, EDT, MBIST, RTLpro, Scanpro, Tessent Diagnosis) is required.
• Strong RTL design skills using Verilog/SystemVerilog.
• Practical experience with synthesis and gate-level verification.
• Strong scripting ability in Python, Tcl, Perl, or similar languages.
• Excellent debugging skills across RTL, netlists, and silicon failure analysis.
• A demonstrated ability to drive technical execution across cross-functional engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with high-performance AI accelerators, GPUs, CPUs, networking ASICs, PCIe, HBM, LPDDR, or chiplet architectures.
• Exposure to high-speed SerDes and advanced process nodes (5nm and below).
• Background in low-power design, yield enhancement methodologies, and manufacturing test optimization.
• Hands-on experience with silicon bring-up, failure analysis, and post-silicon debug.
• A solid grasp of secure manufacturing and DFT, including the interaction between secure boot, hardware root of trust, scan access control, fuse programming, key management, and production test.
• Experience architecting in-system debug and observability infrastructure (trace, event logging, test registers, scan visibility) that accelerates emulation and first-silicon bring-up.
• Familiarity with emulation and pre-silicon validation platforms such as Palladium, ZeBu, Veloce, or FPGA prototyping to validate DFT features before tapeout.

Leveling & Scope

While this role is currently posted at a specific level, we are a growth-oriented organization and are open to hiring at a more senior level for the right candidate. Please note that this job description serves as a focused but generalized overview of the role; specific responsibilities and impact expectations will be tailored to the experience and seniority of the final hire.

Why Join Us?

• Own DFT for a purpose-built AI inference accelerator from architecture definition through first silicon, with your decisions shaping Asimov and every generation that follows.
• Join a small, senior hardware team where your work directly determines silicon quality, yield, and time to market for frontier AI workloads.

Compensation & Benefits

The base salary range for this role is $200,000 – $300,000.

Please note that the figures provided represent the base salary range only and do not include other elements of our total compensation package, equity, or comprehensive benefits.

At Positron AI, we value the unique expertise each candidate brings. While the range above reflects our typical expectation for the position, we reserve the flexibility to exceed this range for candidates whose specialized skills, significant experience, or unique qualifications fall outside the standard scope of the role. Final offers are determined based on a variety of factors, including internal equity, and individual impact.

Benefits & Perks

We want you to do your best work and feel confident that you and your family are taken care of. That means comprehensive coverage, real time to rest, and support for your future.

Health and wellness

• Fully company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your dependents
• Company-paid life and disability coverage, with voluntary options to add more
• Supplemental hospital, critical illness, and accident coverage available

Time off and flexibility

• Unlimited paid time off; we encourage everyone to truly unplug and recharge
• 13 paid company holidays
• Remote-first culture with a company-provided computer and home office setup

Compensation and future

• Competitive salary and equity
• 401(k) with company matching, eligible from day one

Visa Support

This position is open to candidates currently authorized to work in the U.S. We cannot provide new visa sponsorship for this role but are open to facilitating H-1B visa transfers for eligible candidates.

Equal Opportunity Employer. If you’re excited about the role but don’t meet every bullet, we’d still love to hear from you.