Founding-Stage EDA/CAD Engineer & Characterization Lead

Success Matcher Recruitment; Los Altos (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity up to 1.5%

Visa sponsorship available

Job summary

Success Matcher Recruitment is representing an early-stage AI-powered semiconductor design startup in California. You will own building a scalable cell characterization engine, covering timing, power, and noise models, while coordinating SPICE orchestration and IP libraries.

You’ll work closely with founders and engineering teams, with opportunities for significant equity and visa sponsorship. Strong preference for MS/PhD in EE/CS, plus hands-on tool-building experience.

Qualifications

• 3–10 years in cell characterization tools or related EDA R&D.
• Hands-on experience with C++ and Python for tool development.
• Strong knowledge of SPICE-based simulators (HSPICE, Spectre, FineSim).
• Experience with Liberty (.lib) generation and timing/power characterization.
• Advanced degree preferred; bachelor's with strong hands-on experience considered.

Responsibilities

• Build a scalable characterization engine for standard cells and custom IP.
• Develop and optimize SPICE orchestration, parallelization, and sampling.
• Generate and validate Liberty models for downstream static timing tools.
• Create APIs linking characterization data with AI-driven optimization workflows.

Skills

C++

Python

SPICE tools

Liberty models

EDA tools

Education

MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering or CS

Bachelor’s with hands-on tool-building experience

Tools

PrimeLib

SiliconSmart

Cadence Liberate

Job description

Success Matcher Recruitment is representing an early-stage AI-powered semiconductor design startup in California. You will own building a scalable cell characterization engine, covering timing, power, and noise models, while coordinating SPICE orchestration and IP libraries.

You’ll work closely with founders and engineering teams, with opportunities for significant equity and visa sponsorship. Strong preference for MS/PhD in EE/CS, plus hands-on tool-building experience.