AI-Driven Physical Design Technical Leader
About The Position
The Common Hardware Group (CHG) creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products for organizations globally. Our innovations in silicon, optics, and hardware platforms—like Silicon One—are shaping the technology industry. We're a global team of creative experts, bringing our unique backgrounds and bold ideas to push boundaries and help each other grow. Because full product development—from design to qualification to production—is within our team, we’re able to think differently, experiment more, and work quickly. Join us to power the future of the digital world.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field, with 12+ years (Bachelor’s) or 8+ years (Master’s) of Physical Design experience.
- Experience with Python and effectively leveraging AI tools through accurate prompting to enhance productivity.
- Experience designing and building an MCP-based wrapper layer connecting Claude to live EDA tools (Innovus, ICC2, Calibre) for real-time copilot interactions.
- Experience developing EDA copilots or AI-assisted design tools, along with experience in Docker and containerized EDA environments.
- Experience with machine learning driven placement and routing (MLPD / ML-driven PnR), and OpenAI APIs (e.g., GPT-4o, o3) and vector databases such as Pinecone or Weaviate
Nice To Haves
- Experience with RTL2GDSII flow and design tapeouts in 7nnm/5nm/3nm or below process technologies.
- Experience working with EDA tools like Innovus, Tempus/Primetime, Redhawk/Voltus or Calibre/Pegasus.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with physical design teams to identify high-value automation targets: timing triage, Congestion root-cause analysis, floorplan suggestions.
- Evaluate and benchmark LLM-generated outputs against ground truth for Design QoR, timing impact, and sign-off compliance.
- Own the full developer loop: prototype → eval → production — with a focus on measurable design cycle reduction.
- Build agentic PnR workflows where Claude iterates autonomously on placement, routing, and timing constraints based on tool feedback loops.
- Create RAG pipelines that index internal PDKs, design rule documents, sign-off checklists, and runbooks for Claude to reference.
- Write and maintain Tcl bridge scripts that translate Claude's suggested fixes into executable EDA tool commands.
- Develop prompt architectures that accurately interpret STA timing reports, DRC logs, congestion maps, and power analysis outputs.
Benefits
- medical, dental and vision insurance
- a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
- paid parental leave
- short and long-term disability coverage
- basic life insurance
- grants of Cisco restricted stock units
- 10 paid holidays per full calendar year
- 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday
- paid year-end holiday shutdown
- 4 paid days off for personal wellness
- 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year (non-exempt)
- flexible vacation time off program (exempt)
- 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
- up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
- Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
- Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
- annual bonuses (for non-sales roles)
- performance-based incentive pay (for sales roles)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
