Physical Design Engineer

Apple • Cupertino, CA

1d • $150,400 - $225,300

About The Position

Apple Inc. is hiring a Physical Design Engineer to work in Cupertino, California, and various unanticipated locations throughout the United States. The role collaborates with the logic design team to understand partition architecture and drive physical design work early in the design cycle. The engineer completes netlist-to-GDS2 implementation for partitions while meeting schedule and design goals, performs timing, physical, and electrical verification, and drives sign-off closure. The role also resolves and improves physical-design and flow issues, identifies potential solutions, and drives their execution. It explores and implements low-power techniques to improve partition power density and optimizes designs to achieve a low area footprint. The position is 40 hours per week.

Requirements

• Master's degree or foreign equivalent in Electrical and Computer Engineering or a related field.
• One year of experience in the job offered or a related occupation.
• Understanding of VLSI design in the context of large chips.
• Knowledge of CMOS fundamentals for logic design.
• Familiarity with Place and Route (PnR) methodologies to implement a design from netlist to GDS.
• Understanding of Static Timing Analysis (STA) concepts to enable timing closure of a placed-and-routed design.
• Understanding of physical design verification concepts, including DRC, LVS, and Antenna, to enable design fabrication.
• Experience using Verilog coding to run synthesis experiments to improve PPA, implement ECOs, and debug LVS issues.
• Experience using standard cells and compiled memories and understanding their properties to improve design quality.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the logic design team to understand partition architecture and drive physical aspects early in the design cycle.
• Complete netlist-to-GDS2 implementation for partitions while meeting schedule and design goals.
• Perform timing, physical, and electrical verification and drive sign-off closure for partitions.
• Resolve and improve physical-design and flow issues, identify potential solutions, and drive execution.
• Explore and implement low-power techniques to improve power density for partitions.
• Optimize designs for area to achieve a low area footprint for partitions.

Benefits

• Opportunity to participate in discretionary employee stock programs, including restricted stock unit awards and discounted stock purchases through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage.
• Retirement benefits.
• Discounted products and free services.
• Reimbursement for certain educational expenses, including tuition, for formal education related to career advancement at Apple.
• May be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments.
• May be eligible for relocation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level