Electrical Engineer, ASIC Program Lead-CA (opens in new tab) San Diego, CA →

Synchron; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Subsidized medical and dental insurance

401k

Discretionary unlimited PTO

Job summary

Synchron is looking for a Principal Electrical Engineer in San Diego, CA to lead the custom ASIC program aimed at developing neural interfaces. The candidate will drive the program from concept to production, ensuring robust system performance.

With a strong foundation in mixed-signal systems and extensive experience in ASIC development, this role demands technical leadership and collaboration across various engineering disciplines to meet product requirements. A competitive base salary and comprehensive benefits await the successful applicant.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in electrical engineering, mixed-signal systems, or ASIC development.
• Demonstrated ownership of a custom ASIC program from concept through production.
• Strong understanding of electronics involving neural signal acquisition and analog front ends.

Responsibilities

• Lead the ASIC program through all phases, including verification and production release.
• Define and own ASIC requirements focusing on neural signal processing.
• Partner with multiple teams to ensure system-level performance and reliability.

Skills

Mixed-signal systems

ASIC development

Analog expertise

Digital data path architecture

Signal integrity

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Spectrum analyzers

Job description

About Synchron

Synchron’s vision is to build non-surgical brain–computer interfaces at global scale that protect the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and autonomy. Our first mission is to develop motor decoders that restore the ability of 15 million people with paralysis to interact with the digital world. Our second mission is to develop whole-brain cognitive decoders that enable hundreds of millions of people with cognitive decline to preserve and expand their agency as cognition changes over time. In pursuing these goals, we aim not only to help humans flourish, but also to drive fundamental discoveries in human intelligence. Our team operates at the intersection of healthcare and technology, translating breakthrough research into real-world, safety-critical systems.

Principal Electrical Engineer, ASIC Program Lead

Department:

Employment Type: Full-Time

Experience Required: 12+ years

About the Role

Our next-generation system will utilize custom silicon to capture neural signals at the fidelity, power, and reliability a chronic implant demands. We are hiring a Principal Electrical Engineer to own that silicon. You will be the technical owner of our custom ASIC program. This is a senior individual contributor and technical leadership role for someone who has successfully shepherded a custom ASIC from early concept and specification generation through design, verification, silicon bring-up, qualification, and production release. That end-to-end ASIC experience is the most important requirement for this role.

The ideal candidate has a strong mixed-signal foundation, with deep analog expertise in neural analog front-end systems and verification, combined with strong digital experience in data path architecture, multiplexing, serialization, timing, signal integrity, and reliable digital handling of high-channel-count neural data within the system architecture. This person will work across internal electrical, firmware, signal processing, mechanical, clinical, manufacturing, and external ASIC design/vendor teams to ensure the ASIC meets system-level performance, reliability, power, and production requirements.

This role requires both technical depth and broad electrical engineering judgment. The Principal Electrical Engineer will be expected to drive requirements, make architecture tradeoffs, review vendor work, lead verification strategy, support bring-up and debugging, and help translate custom silicon into a production-ready implantable medical device system.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the custom ASIC program from concept and specification through verification, silicon bring-up, qualification, and production release.
• Own ASIC requirements and architecture tradeoffs across neural signal acquisition, analog front‑end performance, digital data path design, power, testability, reliability, manufacturability, and system integration.
• Drive verification strategy for the ASIC and broader electrical system, with emphasis on low‑noise AFE performance, high‑channel‑count data handling, timing, interfaces, and signal integrity.
• Serve as the primary technical interface with ASIC vendors, semiconductor design partners, foundries, packaging partners, and production test resources.
• Lead pre‑silicon and post‑silicon debugging, characterization, root‑cause analysis, and corrective actions across analog, digital, firmware, packaging, PCB, and system boundaries.
• Define and support production test strategy, including DFT/DFM considerations, test coverage, qualification data review, yield improvement, and manufacturing issue resolution.
• Partner with firmware, systems, signal processing, mechanical, clinical, quality, regulatory, and manufacturing teams to ensure the ASIC meets product‑level performance and reliability requirements.
• Contribute to design reviews, technical risk assessments, FMEA, verification documentation, regulatory documentation, and design history files.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field. Advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in electrical engineering, mixed‑signal systems, ASIC/SoC development, or high‑reliability electronic product development.
• Demonstrated ownership of at least one custom ASIC program from concept and specification generation through verification, silicon bring‑up, qualification, and production release. This experience is required.
• Strong analog or mixed‑signal background, especially with low‑noise analog front ends, sensor interfaces, neural signal acquisition, biopotential measurement, precision instrumentation, ADC interfaces, and microvolt‑level signals.
• Experience reviewing or driving ASIC verification plans, including analog, digital, mixed‑signal, and system‑level verification.
• Experience working with external ASIC vendors, design partners, foundries, packaging teams, or semiconductor test/m​anufacturing partners.
• Strong understanding of ASIC development flow, including architecture, specification, RTL/design review, verification, synthesis/timing concepts, DFT, physical implementation review, tapeout, silicon bring‑up, characterization, and production test.
• Ability to work across analog, digital, firmware, packaging, PCB, and system boundaries to preserve signal fidelity throughout the acquisition and processing chain.
• Strong lab and debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, precision measurement equipment, and custom test fixtures.
• Experience developing and executing verification plans, test reports, requirements traceability, failure analysis, and corrective actions.
• Familiarity with IEC 60601, ISO 13485, design controls, design history files, risk management, and regulated product development.
• Strong documentation skills and ability to translate complex system needs into clear technical requirements and design specifications.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to lead technical discussions across internal teams, external vendors, and senior leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with implantable, wearable, or high‑reliability medical devices.
• Experience with neural recording, bioinstrumentation, electrophysiology, or other low‑amplitude physiological signal acquisition systems.
• Experience with ultra‑low‑power ASICs, low‑leakage circuits, sub‑microwatt/channel front ends, power domains, and power/performance optimization.
• Experience with mixed‑signal designs where isolation, crosstalk, substrate noise, ground bounce, coupling, and packaging parasitics are critical.
• Familiarity with Verilog/VHDL/SystemVerilog, UVM concepts, EDA tools, and ASIC verification methodologies.
• Experience with Python, MATLAB, C/C++, Tcl, or other scripting/programming tools for test automation, modeling, data analysis, or lab characterization.
• Experience supporting production test, yield improvement, reliability testing, accelerated life testing, supplier qualification, or contract manufacturing.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers or leading cross‑functional technical teams without requiring formal people‑management authority.

Reporting and Collaboration

This position reports to the Director of Electrical and Firmware Engineering and will collaborate closely with the VP of R&D, ASIC vendors, firmware developers, signal processing scientists, systems engineers, clinical engineering teams, quality/regulatory teams, manufacturing partners, physicians, and external semiconductor design partners.

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $160,000 – $260,000 depending on experience, skills, and qualifications.

In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for discretionary bonuses and/or equity grants, subject to board approval and company policy.

We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position at this time.

Benefits (for W‑2, full‑time, exempt employees in the US only) ***Intern positions not eligible

• Subsidized medical and dental insurance coverage for you and your dependent(s)
• 401k
• Discretionary unlimited PTO
• Flexible Spending Account for you and your dependent(s), with eligible plan elections
• Commuter benefits for NY employees

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Synchron is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants and provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know.

Join Us

At Synchron, you will be part of a transformative mission and you will work alongside driven people who believe in the power of collaboration and innovation to make a lasting impact. If you are excited to stretch your skills and contribute to something meaningful, apply now and build the future with us.