Director of Physical Design

Acceler8 Talent; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 350,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Acceler8 Talent is partnering with a startup to hire a visionary Director of Physical Design for a leading 3D-memory AI accelerator platform. You will guide full-chip PD from netlist to GDSII, drive floorplanning, CTS, routing, timing closure and PD verification, and coordinate with architecture, RTL, DFT, packaging and foundry teams.

You will set PD methodology, lead team planning and optimize power integrity, reliability and timing across advanced nodes, including 3nm/5nm.

Qualifications

• 15–20 years of ASIC/SoC Physical Design experience with multiple tapeouts.
• Expert PD tools, flows and advanced process nodes (3nm/5nm/7nm)
• Experience with NoC/Fabric/AXI interconnect physical implementation; placement and routing of high-performance on-chip networks.
• DFT-aware physical design; scan chain routing, BIST controller placement, JTAG/boundary scan integration and test-mode physical constraints.

Responsibilities

• Lead full-chip physical design from netlist to GDSII signoff for AI accelerators, ensuring PPA and schedule goals.
• Own floorplanning, CTS, routing, timing closure and physical verification; develop PD flows for Innovus/Genus.
• Drive team planning, external Design Service partners, resource allocation and milestone reviews for tapeouts.
• Collaborate with SoC, DFT, Packaging and Foundry teams to solve integration challenges, including 3D-memory connectivity.
• Develop and review power grid strategies; perform IR drop and EM analysis using Cadence Voltus or ANSYS RedHawk; account for TSV-based delivery.
• Implement scan chain routing, BIST controller placement, JTAG/boundary scan integration; manage test-mode constraints with DFT Lead.
• Own DRC/LVS/ERC signoff using Mentor Calibre or IC Validator; ensure clean tapeouts across all blocks.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Project management

Team leadership

Education

B.E./M.S. in Electrical Engineering, VLSI or related discipline

Tools

Innovus

Genus

Mentor Calibre

IC Validator

Cadence Voltus

ANSYS RedHawk

Job description

Acceler8 Talent is partnering with a startup designing a cutting-edge 3D-memory-integrated AI accelerator platform to hire an experienced, visionary Director of Physical Design.

In this role, you'd lead full-chip and complex subsystem physical design. This high-impact technical leadership role drives the physical design team from netlist ingestion through GDSII signoff, working closely with architecture, RTL design, DFT, packaging and foundry teams. As the primary technical authority for physical design methodology, flow development and execution, you'll make sound VLSI trade-off decisions across power, performance, area, schedule and design quality in a fast-paced startup environment.

What You'll Do:

• Lead full-chip physical design from netlist to GDSII signoff for complex AI accelerators, ensuring PPA and schedule goals. Drive physical design for 3D-Memory PHY Hard-IP development.
• Own floorplanning, CTS, routing, timing closure and physical verification, using industry standard tools and developing PD flows for Innovus/Genus.
• Drive team and work planning, external Design Service partners, resource allocation and milestone/quality/readiness reviews to ensure successful and timely tapeouts.
• Collaborate with SoC, DFT, Packaging, and Foundry teams to solve complex integration challenges, including 3D-memory/chiplet connectivity and power integrity.
• Develop and review power grid strategies for the compute die and 3D-memory interface; perform IR drop and electromigration (EM) analysis using Cadence Voltus or ANSYS RedHawk; account for TSV-based power delivery constraints.
• Implement scan chain routing, BIST controller placement, JTAG and boundary scan cell integration and test-mode power domain constraints in close coordination with the DFT Lead team.
• Own DRC/LVS/ERC signoff using Mentor Calibre or IC Validator; drive clean tapeout across all design blocks.

What You Bring:

• B.E./M.S. in Electrical Engineering, VLSI or a related discipline
• 15–20 years experience in ASIC/SoC Physical Design with a proven track record of successful silicon tapeouts.
• Expert-level proficiency in PD tools, flows and advanced process nodes (3nm/5nm/7nm).
• Mastery of CTS, timing/congestion-aware routing, SI-aware signoff and low-power/DFT design flows.
• Experience with NoC/Fabric/AXI interconnect physical implementation; placement and routing of high-performance on-chip networks.
• Experience with DFT-aware physical design; scan chain routing, BIST controller placement, JTAG/boundary scan integration and test-mode physical constraints.
• Experience with low-power physical implementation; UPF-based multi-voltage domains, power gating, retention flop placement, level shifters and isolation cells.
• Strong leadership, communication, and project management skills in fast-paced environments.
• Proven track record of multiple successful SoC productizations; from physical design through post-silicon qualification and production release.