Custom Analog Design Automation Lead

Altera; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 232,000 - 341,000; Full time

Job summary

Altera, in San Jose, CA, seeks a Custom-Analog Design-Automation Lead to drive AI-assisted design flows and productivity across the custom-analog organization. This role owns the strategy and execution for automating analog tasks and embedding AI/ML methodologies into the design cycle.

Lead initiatives across fabric, SerDes, and IO design groups, mentor engineers, define roadmaps, and track metrics for productivity and quality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering or related field.
• 12+ years in custom-analog design or analog design automation with AI-assisted methods.
• Experience deploying design automation across multiple teams, not just one project.
• Strong knowledge of analog/mixed-signal flows and EDA toolchains.
• Expert scripting/automation to build production flows (Cadence SKILL, Python, Tcl, shell).
• Proven leadership and cross-team influence across fabric, SerDes, and IO groups.

Responsibilities

• Define strategy and roadmaps for analog design automation and AI-enabled productivity tools.
• Develop, deploy, and maintain automation flows for schematic, layout, verification, and signoff.
• Apply AI/ML to sizing, layout assistance, and verification triage; move proofs to production.
• Own reuse and hardening of analog IP and automation flows across projects.
• Mentor engineers adopting new flows and methodologies; drive broad adoption.

Skills

AI/ML in design

Leadership

Scripting (Python, Tcl)

Cadence SKILL

Automation engineering

Verilog/EDA flows

Education

Bachelors or Master in ECE

Tools

Cadence Virtuoso Studio

Maestro/ADE

Spectre

Quantus QRC

Voltus-XFi/EMIR

HSPICE/PrimeSim

Job description

Position Summary

Altera is seeking a Custom-Analog Design-Automation Lead to drive analog design automation and engineering productivity across the custom-analog design organization, with a strong emphasis on AI-assisted design flows. This role owns the strategy and execution for automating analog design tasks, embedding AI/ML-driven methodologies into the design cycle, and scaling productivity gains across multiple design teams.

Role Purpose

Lead analog design automation and productivity initiatives, including the development and deployment of AI-assisted design flows, to accelerate cycle time, improve quality of results, and reduce manual effort across custom-analog design programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and drive the technical strategy and roadmap for analog design automation and AI-assisted productivity tools.
• Develop, deploy, and maintain automation flows that span custom-analog design tasks, from schematic and layout through verification and signoff.
• Identify opportunities to apply AI/ML techniques to analog design problems (e.g., sizing, layout assistance, verification triage) and lead proof-of-concept through production deployment.
• Own the reuse and hardening strategy for analog IP and automation flows, ensuring methodologies are robust, well-documented, and portable across projects.
• Partner with design, CAD, and methodology teams to roll out automation and AI-assisted capabilities consistently across fabric, SerDes, and IO design groups.
• Establish metrics to track productivity, quality, and adoption of automation and AI-assisted flows, and report progress to engineering leadership.
• Mentor and provide technical direction to design and automation engineers adopting new flows and methodologies.
• Stay current with emerging EDA, automation, and AI/ML technologies relevant to custom-analog design, and evaluate them for adoption.
• Scope analog design automation spanning fabric, SerDes, and IO design domains.
• Reuse and hardening strategy for analog design IP, flows, and methodologies.
• Cross-team methodology deployment, influencing practices across multiple design groups rather than a single project.

Salary Range

Salary Range The pay range below is for Bay Area California only. Actual salary may vary based on a number of factors including job location, job-related knowledge, skills, experiences, trainings, etc. We also offer incentive opportunities that reward employees based on individual and company performance. $231,500 - $341,075 USD

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in custom-analog circuit design and/or analog design automation, combined with hands-on experience in design automation and/or AI-assisted methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and deploy design automation methodology across multiple teams, not just within a single project.
• Working knowledge of analog/mixed-signal design flows (schematic capture, layout, extraction, verification) and the EDA toolchains that support them — Cadence Virtuoso Studio, Maestro/ADE, Spectre, Quantus QRC, Voltus-XFi/EMIR, Synopsys HSPICE/PrimeSim, or equivalent.
• Expert-level scripting and automation ability (Cadence SKILL, Python, Tcl, shell), sufficient to build and maintain production automation rather than extend what already exists.
• Demonstrated application of AI/ML to design or verification workflows, taken past proof-of-concept into production use by engineers other than the author.
• Strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to influence design practices across fabric, SerDes, and IO teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience leading a Center of Excellence (CoE) or cross-functional capability team.
• Experience with machine-learning-assisted EDA tools or building custom AI/ML tooling for circuit design tasks.
• Track record of IP reuse and hardening strategies that reduced design cycle time across multiple tapeouts.

Job Type

Job Type: Regular

Shift: Shift 1 (United States of America)

Primary Location: San Jose, California, United States

Posting Statement

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.