Physical Design Engineer, ML4PD

Tenstorrent; Austin, Fort Collins, Santa Clara (TX, CO, CA); Hybrid; USD 300,000 - 500,000; Full time

Job summary

Tenstorrent is seeking a mid- to senior-level Physical Design Engineer to contribute to the physical design of high-performance chips for industry-leading AI/ML architectures, spanning implementation from synthesis through tapeout.

You will partner with front-end and physical design engineers to optimize floorplanning, timing, power, and area across multiple IPs, building ASIC expertise along the way.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• Experience with synthesis, place-and-route flows, and physical design tools.
• Familiarity with timing, EM/IR, and power analysis.
• Strong Tcl, Perl, Shell, and/or Python skills; knowledge of low-power techniques.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to physical design of high-performance chips for AI/ML architectures.
• Collaborate with front-end and physical design engineers to optimize floorplanning, timing, power, and area.
• Support end-to-end ASIC flow from synthesis through tapeout.
• Develop flows and learn across ASIC development stages with experienced engineers.

Skills

Logic design fundamentals

Synthesis / place-and-route

Physical design tools

Timing closure

Power analysis

Tcl / Perl / Shell / Python

Low-power techniques

Education

Electrical Engineering

Computer Engineering

Computer Science

Tools

Synthesis tools

Place-and-route tools

Timing & power analysis tools

Job description

Tenstorrent is leading the industry on cutting-edge AI technology, revolutionizing performance expectations, ease of use, and cost efficiency. With AI redefining the computing paradigm, solutions must evolve to unify innovations in software models, compilers, platforms, networking, and semiconductors. Our diverse team of technologists have developed a high performance RISC-V CPU from scratch, and share a passion for AI and a deep desire to build the best AI platform possible. We value collaboration, curiosity, and a commitment to solving hard problems. We are growing our team and looking for contributors of all seniorities.

Tenstorrent is looking for a mid- to senior-level Physical Design Engineer who will contribute to the physical design of high-performance chips for industry-leading AI/ML architectures, spanning implementation from synthesis through tapeout. You will partner with front-end and physical design engineers to optimize floorplanning, timing, power, performance, and area across multiple IPs. Along the way, you will build end-to-end ASIC expertise while learning from experienced engineers across the chip development process.

This role is hybrid, based out of Austin, TX, Fort Collins, CO, or Santa Clara, CA.

We welcome candidates at various experience levels for this role. During the interview process, candidates will be assessed for the appropriate level, and offers will align with that level, which may differ from the one in this posting.

Who You Are

• An engineer excited to work on high-performance designs for industry-leading AI/ML architectures.
• A collaborative problem solver who enjoys working with experienced engineers across ASIC disciplines.
• Grounded in logic design fundamentals and gate- and transistor-level implementation.
• Curious about how early architectural and RTL decisions shape physical implementation and final chip quality.

What We Need

• A BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, with strong logic design fundamentals.
• Experience with synthesis, place-and-route flows, and physical design tools, plus familiarity with timing, EM/IR, and power analysis.
• The ability to contribute across floorplanning, clocking, I/O planning, timing closure, area improvement, and power optimization.
• Strong Tcl, Perl, Shell, and/or Python skills, along with knowledge of low-power techniques such as power gating, multi-Vt, and voltage scaling.

What You Will Learn

• The complete ASIC implementation lifecycle, from synthesis through signoff and tapeout.
• How architecture, front-end design, and RTL decisions influence physical implementation outcomes.
• How to develop flows and use experiments to optimize power, performance, and area.
• How to build physical design expertise while collaborating with experts across advanced AI/ML silicon development.

Compensation for all engineers at Tenstorrent ranges from $100k - $500k including base and variable compensation targets. Experience, skills, education, background and location all impact the actual offer made.

Tenstorrent offers a highly competitive compensation package and benefits, and we are an equal opportunity employer.

This position requires access to technology that requires a U.S. export license for persons whose most recent country of citizenship or permanent residence is a U.S. EAR Country Groups D:1, E1, or E2 country.

This offer of employment is contingent upon the applicant being eligible to access U.S. export-controlled technology. Due to U.S. export laws, including those codified in the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Company is required to ensure compliance with these laws when transferring technology to nationals of certain countries (such as EAR Country Groups D:1, E1, and E2). These requirements apply to persons located in the U.S. and all countries outside the U.S. As the position offered will have direct and/or indirect access to information, systems, or technologies subject to these laws, the offer may be contingent upon your citizenship/permanent residency status or ability to obtain prior license approval from the U.S. Commerce Department or applicable federal agency. If employment is not possible due to U.S. export laws, any offer of employment will be rescinded.

As set forth in Tenstorrent's Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.