Director of Physical Design

This role will be on-site 5 days a week in NW Austin.

Scope 

We seek an accomplished Director of Physical Design to lead and scale our physical implementation organization for next-generation, ultra-low-power microcontroller (MCU) products. This strategic, high-impact leadership role drives the physical design roadmap, ensures world-class PPA (power, performance, area), and delivers robust silicon for high-volume embedded applications.

You will guide a multidisciplinary team across design methodology, physical implementation, and sign-off, partnering closely with architecture, RTL design, analog/mixed‑signal, verification, and product engineering to bring innovative MCU solutions to market.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy

• Define and execute the physical design strategy for low‑power MCU product lines.
• Build, mentor, and lead a high‑performing global physical design team.
• Establish best‑in‑class methodologies for low‑power, high‑reliability physical implementation.
• Drive continuous improvement in design flows, automation, and signoff quality, including the use of AI tools.

Physical Implementation

• Oversee full‑chip and block‑level physical design including:
• Floorplanning
• Power planning and low‑power architecture implementation
• Clock tree synthesis (CTS)
• Place & route (P&R)
• Timing closure
• Physical verification (DRC/LVS)
• EM/IR and reliability sign-off
• Power analysis
• Ensure optimal PPA trade-offs tailored for ultra‑low‑power MCU architectures.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with architecture and RTL teams to influence early design decisions.
• Work closely with analog/mixed‑signal teams to integrate mixed‑signal IP into SoCs.
• Collaborate with product engineering and operations to ensure manufacturability and yield.
• Interface with foundries to align on technology capabilities, PDK updates, and design rules.

Execution & Delivery

• Own physical design schedules, resource planning, and risk management.
• Ensure first‑silicon success through rigorous signoff and validation processes.
• Drive tape‑out readiness and support post‑silicon debug.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s or Master's degree in electrical engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 15+ years of experience in physical design for complex SoCs, with at least 5 years in leadership roles.
• Proven track record of delivering multiple chips to production.
• Deep expertise in:
  • Low power design techniques (UPF, clock gating, multi‑Vt, power gating, DVFS, retention, etc.)
  • Physical design tools (Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor)
  • Advanced process nodes (40nm → 22nm → 12nm and below)
  • Strong understanding of MCU architectures and embedded system constraints.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred

• Experience with mixed-signal SoCs and integration of analog IP.
• Background in high-volume consumer or industrial MCU products.
• Familiarity with security-focused or safety-certified MCU designs (e.g., ISO 26262).
• Experience building and scaling distributed engineering teams.

Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer.