Senior Physical Design Methodology Engineer, Innovus Flows

NVIDIA Gruppe; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 168,000 - 310,500; Full time

Job summary

NVIDIA Gruppe is seeking a Physical Design Engineer to drive innovation in physical design across multiple product lines. The successful candidate will focus on enhancing PPA optimization strategies for GPU, CPU, and SOC implementations while utilizing AI/ML methods to improve design efficiency.

This position requires a minimum of 7 years in Physical Design, especially method development. NVIDIA offers competitive salaries between 168,000 and 310,500 USD based on level and experience, along with equity and benefits.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years of experience in Physical Design.
• Strong understanding of physical design optimization methodologies.
• Experience with power distribution networks and Design for Yield.

Responsibilities

• Developing innovative physical design methodologies.
• Work with partners for tool and methodology improvements.
• Use AI/ML approaches to improve CAD design performance.

Skills

Physical Design Optimization

PPA Improvement

AI/ML Techniques

EDA Tools Proficiency

Programming Skills (Python, C++)

Education

MS in Electrical or Computer Engineering

Tools

Cadence EDA Tool Suite

NumPy

PyTorch

Job description

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It’s a unique legacy of innovation that’s fueled by great technology—and amazing people. Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self‑driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. As an NVIDIAN, you’ll be immersed in a diverse, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world.

We are looking for a physical design engineer to be a part of NVIDIA’s physical design (PD) methodology team driving innovation in PD across all of NVIDIA's products – Datacenter AI, HPC, Networking, Robotics, Autonomous driving, gaming and more. As the cadence of NVIDIA’s chip cycle shortens, it poses new challenges for physical design teams to not only deliver the best PPA on the chips, but to also do it at scale, in the shortest possible time. Your work in physical design methodology directly enables our speed to market in delivering industry’s leading chip hardware. This role provides a unique opportunity to innovate at the cutting edge of process technology, EDA tools, and PD flows through collaboration with RTL, synthesis, DFT, foundry, timing and other cross‑functional teams to push the limits of physical design at scale.

Responsibilities

• Developing innovative physical design methodologies for implementation of GPU, CPU, Network processors and SOC, with emphasis on PPA (Power, Performance, Area) and runtime improvement of the physical design flow on advanced technology nodes
• Work with internal and external partners to drive tool and methodology improvements to deliver best‑in‑class PPA solutions across all our product lines
• Use AI/ML approaches to CAD to improve design performance and turnaround time, while improving efficiency and productivity of designers

Qualifications

• MS in Electrical or Computer Engineering (or equivalent experience)
• Minimum 7 years of experience in Physical Design; emphasis on methodology and flow development is highly preferred
• Proven track record of PPA improvement on high performance and low power designs in advanced technology nodes
• Strong understanding of physical design optimization and routing methodologies at place, CTS, route and post‑route, especially power and area efficient setup and hold optimization
• Strong background in STA, extraction, timing and RC correlation
• Experience in low power design with UPF, and use of FSDB/SAIFs for power optimization
• Solid understanding of EM and IR analysis and closure
• Understanding of synthesis, hierarchical design, pinning and budgeting flows
• Experience with power distribution networks, Design for Yield and Manufacturability and thermal management
• Expertise and in-depth knowledge of industry standard EDA tools and proficiency in programming and scripting languages, such as TCL, Perl, Python, and C++

Additional Qualifications

• Experience applying ML models, LLMs, and agentic AI techniques to EDA/PD problems (analytics, prediction, optimization)
• Proficiency with data analysis/ML libraries (e.g., NumPy, SciPy, scikit‑learn, PyTorch, etc.)
• Proficiency in Cadence EDA tool suite – Innovus, Genus, Tempus, Quantus, Joules, etc.

NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers. And due to outstanding growth, our teams are rapidly growing. Are you passionate about becoming a part of a best‑in‑class team supporting the latest in GPU and AI technology? If so, we want to hear from you!

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 168,000 USD - 264,500 USD for Level 4, and 196,000 USD - 310,500 USD for Level 5. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits. Applications for this job will be accepted at least until June 1, 2026. This posting is for an existing vacancy. NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.