Physical Design Engineer

Apple Inc.; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 184,700 - 324,800; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California is seeking a forward‑thinking Physical Design Engineer to contribute to high‑performance PHY design from RTL to GDSII.

You will work with architecture, CAD, timing, and logic teams to deliver outstanding PHY designs that impact millions of Apple customers. Responsibilities include block/chip level constraints, floorplanning, clock network guidelines, place and route, ECOs, and physical verification.

Qualifications

• Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and 10+ years experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Generate block/chip level static timing constraints.
• Build full chip floor‑plan including pin placement, partitions and power grid.
• Develop and validate high performance low power clock network guidelines.
• Perform block level place and route and close the design to meet timing, area and power constraints.
• Generate and implement ECOs to fix timing, noise and EM IR violations.
• Run physical design verification flow at chip/block level and provide guidelines to fix LVS/DRC violations to other designers.
• Assist in flow development for chip integration.

Education

Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering

Job description

Cupertino, California, United States Hardware

At Apple we work every single day to craft products that enrich people’s lives. Do you love working on challenges that no one has solved yet? Do you like changing the game? We have an opportunity for a forward‑thinking and unusually hardworking Physical Design Engineer. As a member of our wide‑ranging group, you will have the rare and great opportunity to craft upcoming products that will delight and encourage millions of Apple’s customers every single day. In this role, we will be at the center of a PHY design effort working with architecture, CAD, timing, and logic design teams, with a critical impact on delivering outstanding PHY designs. You will be required to do physical designs of outstanding PHY design.

Description

As a Physical Design engineer you will contribute to all phases of physical design of high performance PHY design from RTL to delivery of our final GDSII. Your responsibilities include but are not limited to: Generate block/chip level static timing constraints. Build full chip floor‑plan including pin placement, partitions and power grid. Develop and validate high performance low power clock network guidelines. Perform block level place and route and close the design to meet timing, area and power constraints. Generate and implement ECOs to fix timing, noise and EM IR violations. Run physical design verification flow at chip/block level and provide guidelines to fix LVS/DRC violations to other designers. Participate in establishing CAD and physical design methodologies for correct by construction designs. Assist in flow development for chip integration.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and 10+ years experience preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• The ideal candidate will have deep design experience in high PHY and/or SOC designs.
• Deep Knowledge about industry standards and practices in Physical Design, including Physically aware synthesis, Floor‑planning, and Place & Route.
• Experience in developing and implementing Power‑grid and Clock specifications.
• Strong understanding of all aspects of Physical construction, Integration and Physical Verification.
• Shown Knowledge of Basic SoC Architecture and HDL languages like Verilog to be able with logic design team for timing fixes.
• Power user of industry standard Physical Design & Synthesis tools.
• Deep Understanding of scripting languages such as Perl/Tcl, solid understanding of Extraction and STA methodology and tools.
• Deep Understanding of Physical Design Verification methodology to debug LVS/DRC issues at chip/block level.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $184,700 and $324,800, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You’ll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation. Learn more about Apple Benefits.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant.

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace.

Learn about reasonable accommodations for job applicants.

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.