Physical Design Implementation and Signoff Methodology Lead & Architect
Job Details:
Job Description:
About Altera
Altera builds the programmable logic and adaptive computing solutions that power the world's most demanding systems - from data centers and networking infrastructure to automotive, aerospace, and industrial applications. As an independent FPGA leader, we combine decades of silicon expertise with a startup's focus on speed and innovation. Our engineers work at the edge of process technology and design methodology to deliver silicon that customers can trust, on schedule, every time.
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Physical Design Implementation & Signoff Methodology Lead & Architect to own and reinvent the implementation and signoff methodology that underpins every tapeout at Altera. This is a senior individual-contributor role for an engineer who thinks like an architect: someone who doesn't just close implementation and signoff on a single block, but builds the flows, standards, and quality gates - supercharged with an AI/ML-driven mindset - that let every design team close faster, with higher quality and confidence, across every future product. You will be the recognized authority on physical design (PD) implementation and signoff - with place-and-route implementation, electromigration and IR-drop (EMIR) analysis, timing signoff, and power signoff as your core domains - and you will architect flows engineered to scale cleanly as Altera takes on more concurrent designs, without sacrificing turnaround time or quality.
This role sits on Altera's senior individual-contributor (IC) technical ladder (Senior Principal Engineer / Principal Engineer). It is built for deep technical leaders who prefer to lead through expertise, architecture, and influence rather than people management - while still shaping strategy and mentoring the next generation of physical design engineers.
Level distinction:
Principal Engineer: owns one signoff domain end-to-end - EMIR, timing, or power - across at least two process nodes, and has deployed that methodology to design teams outside their own. Senior Principal Engineer: owns the implementation and signoff methodology architecture across the product portfolio, and has set methodology strategy across multiple product generations.
What You'll Own / Responsibilities:
- Implementation & signoff methodology strategy - Own the end-to-end physical design implementation and signoff methodology - including place-and-route implementation, electromigration and IR-drop (EMIR) analysis, timing signoff, and power signoff - across Altera's product portfolio.
- Flow architecture - Define and continuously improve PD implementation and signoff flows and standards, ensuring accuracy, full coverage, and efficient turnaround time for every design team that depends on them.
- AI/ML-driven productivity - Champion an AI/ML-driven mindset across implementation and signoff: introduce predictive and generative techniques - ML-based timing/power/EMIR prediction, automated debug and fix recommendation, intelligent flow orchestration - that meaningfully improve engineering productivity and quality.
- Scalable, efficient closure - Architect implementation and signoff flows to scale efficiently across a growing number of concurrent designs, enabling faster and more predictable closure without linear growth in engineering effort.
- Technology enablement - Partner with process/technology teams, EDA vendors, and design teams to qualify and deploy next-generation implementation, EMIR, timing, and power methodologies for advanced process nodes.
- Quality and reliability - Establish golden reference flows, signoff criteria, and quality gates that protect silicon reliability and drive first-pass tapeout success.
- Technical problem-solving - Lead root-cause analysis of complex implementation, EMIR, timing, and power signoff issues, and drive convergence across block-level and full-chip integration.
- Cross-functional leadership - Serve as the go-to technical authority in tapeout readiness reviews, technology qualification forums, and cross-functional design reviews.
- Innovation - Evaluate, qualify, and help adopt emerging EDA tools, AI/ML-based flows, and methodologies that keep Altera's implementation and signoff capability ahead of the curve.
- Mentorship - Mentor design and CAD engineers on physical design implementation and signoff best practices, raising the technical bar across the organization.
What Success Looks Like
- Faster, more predictable implementation and signoff turnaround time across EMIR, timing, and power domains, with fewer late-stage surprises.
- Higher first-pass silicon success rates, driven by rigorous, well-architected signoff criteria and quality gates.
- Measurable productivity and quality gains from AI/ML-driven methodology enhancements - fewer manual iterations, earlier issue detection, and faster convergence.
- Implementation and signoff flows that scale efficiently to handle a growing portfolio of concurrent designs, with efficient closure and less manual firefighting as volume grows.
- A methodology that scales cleanly to new process nodes and is adopted as the standard across Altera's product lines.
- A stronger bench of design and CAD engineers who have absorbed your methodology expertise through mentorship and review.
Why Altera
Altera offers the scale and technical depth of an established silicon leader with the speed, ownership, and impact of a growth-stage company. On our senior IC ladder, your influence is measured by the quality of the methodology and architecture you build - not the size of a team you manage. You'll work alongside some of the industry's most experienced physical design and CAD engineers, with a direct line to shaping how Altera designs, verifies, and ships silicon - faster, smarter, and at greater scale - for years to come
Salary Range
The pay range below is for Bay Area California only. Actual salary may vary based on a number of factors including job location, job-related knowledge, skills, experiences, trainings, etc. We also offer incentive opportunities that reward employees based on individual and company performance.
$231,500 - $341,075 USD
We use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for the position. Applicants must be eligible for any required U.S. export authorizations.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
- BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, plus 15+ years (for Senior Principal Engineer) or 12+ years (Principal Engineer) of physical design experience, including a minimum of 8 years developing and deploying implementation or signoff methodology.
- Deep, hands-on expertise in physical design implementation and signoff methodology, including electromigration and IR-drop (EMIR) analysis.
- Strong command of timing signoff (STA) and power signoff flows, and the industry standards that govern them.
- Depth expectation. Deep, demonstrate expertise in at least two of the three core domains - place-and-route implementation, EMIR analysis, and timing/power signoff - with working command of the third. Depth across all three is preferred, not required.
- A demonstrated track record of architecting and deploying PD implementation and signoff methodologies across multiple tapeouts and process technology nodes.
- Hands-on proficiency with industry-standard place-and-route, EMIR, STA, and power signoff tools (e.g., Ansys RedHawk-SC, Synopsys PrimeTime/PrimePower/Fusion Compiler, Cadence Innovus/Voltus/Tempus, or equivalent).
- An AI/ML-driven mindset and working knowledge of applying AI/ML techniques (e.g., predictive modeling, ML-based EDA optimization, generative flow automation) to physical design implementation and signoff to significantly improve productivity and quality.
- Solid understanding of physical design challenges at [CONFIRM NODES: e.g. Intel 18A / TSMC N3 / N5] and comparable advanced nodes, parasitic extraction, and reliability signoff requirements.
- Excellent cross-functional collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to influence design methodology across multiple teams and sites.
- Scripting and automation proficiency (Python, Tcl) sufficient to build methodology infrastructure and integrate ML pipelines directly, not only to script around flows others have built.
- A genuine can-do attitude - comfortable rolling up your sleeves and jumping into execution at any stage of the design cycle, from early flow architecture to late-stage tapeout firefighting.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Direct experience deploying AI/ML-based EDA solutions in production flows (e.g., ML-driven timing/power/IR prediction, automated ECO generation, anomaly detection in signoff data).
- Experience defining methodology strategy at a Principal or Senior Principal Engineer level across multiple product generations.
- Experience working directly with foundry PDKs and technology qualification for leading-edge process nodes.
- Patents, publications, or conference contributions in physical design implementation, signoff, or AI/ML-for-EDA domains.