Chip Lead / Physical Design Director (Physical Design)

TL;DR

Chip Lead / Physical Design Director (Physical Design): Leading Physical Design and DFT teams to deliver RTL-to-GDS services for high-performance SoCs in data centers, automotive, and AI with an accent on PPA optimization and schedule requirements in advanced FinFET nodes. Focus on driving technical decisions, selecting foundry/node strategies, and collaborating with R&D to enhance EDA tool methodologies.

Location: Austin, US

Company

hirify.global is a global leader in electronic design automation (EDA) tools, emulation hardware, and IP products supporting advanced technology verticals.

What you will do

• Serve as the technical leader for Physical Design and DFT teams, driving complex SoC projects from RTL/Netlist to GDS.
• Manage direct customer engagements, owning technical decisions and design trade-offs to meet PPA and schedule targets.
• Guide customers in selecting the optimal foundry, node, library, and memory compiler while establishing sign-off criteria.
• Collaborate with internal R&D to enhance tools and methodologies and promote internal AI initiatives for efficiency.
• Partner with RTL and Synthesis teams to ensure key metrics are achieved before physical design execution.
• Document and share best practices to improve success rates and AI adoption across future programs.

Requirements

• 15+ years of industry experience in Physical Design.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong knowledge of Digital Design Fundamentals, Semiconductor fundamentals, and Static Timing Analysis (STA).
• Expertise in IC digital implementation flows (Place and Route, CTS, IR Drop, power closure).
• Demonstrated experience in complete design closure for chip top-level projects.
• Experience with advanced nodes at 7nm and below.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree in a relevant engineering field.
• Experience with Synthesis, DFT, and Logical Equivalence Checking.
• Proficiency with hirify.global tools (Genus, Innovus, Conformal, Tempus, Modus, Voltus) or similar (ICC2, Primetime).
• Domain expertise in CPUs, GPUs, AI Engines, NoCs, or high-speed interfaces.
• Experience with 3D IC design.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to collaborate with industry-leading minds on the world's most advanced technology.
• Impactful work across high-growth sectors including data centers, ADAS automotive, and physical AI.
• Environment focused on developing leaders and fostering continuous professional learning.