Principal Electrical Engineer, ASIC Program LeadDepartment: Location: On-Site - San Diego, CA
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience Required: 12+ years
About the RoleOur next-generation system will utilize custom silicon to capture neural signals at the fidelity, power, and reliability a chronic implant demands. We are hiring a
Principal Electrical Engineer to own that silicon. You will be the technical owner of our custom ASIC program. This is a senior individual contributor and technical leadership role for someone who has successfully shepherded a custom ASIC from early concept and specification generation through design, verification, silicon bring-up, qualification, and production release. That end-to-end ASIC experience is the most important requirement for this role.
The ideal candidate has a strong mixed-signal foundation, with deep analog expertise in neural analog front-end systems and verification, combined with strong digital experience in data path architecture, multiplexing, serialization, timing, signal integrity, and reliable digital handling of high-channel-count neural data within the system architecture. This person will work across internal electrical, firmware, signal processing, mechanical, clinical, manufacturing, and external ASIC design/vendor teams to ensure the ASIC meets system-level performance, reliability, power, and production requirements.
This role requires both technical depth and broad electrical engineering judgment. The Principal Electrical Engineer will be expected to drive requirements, make architecture tradeoffs, review vendor work, lead verification strategy, support bring-up and debugging, and help translate custom silicon into a production-ready implantable medical device system.
Key Responsibilities- Lead the custom ASIC program from concept and specification through verification, silicon bring-up, qualification, and production release.
- Own ASIC requirements and architecture tradeoffs across neural signal acquisition, analog front-end performance, digital data path design, power, testability, reliability, manufacturability, and system integration.
- Drive verification strategy for the ASIC and broader electrical system, with emphasis on low-noise AFE performance, high-channel-count data handling, timing, interfaces, and signal integrity.
- Serve as the primary technical interface with ASIC vendors, semiconductor design partners, foundries, packaging partners, and production test resources.
- Lead pre-silicon and post-silicon debugging, characterization, root-cause analysis, and corrective actions across analog, digital, firmware, packaging, PCB, and system boundaries.
- Define and support production test strategy, including DFT/DFM considerations, test coverage, qualification data review, yield improvement, and manufacturing issue resolution.
- Partner with firmware, systems, signal processing, mechanical, clinical, quality, regulatory, and manufacturing teams to ensure the ASIC meets product-level performance and reliability requirements.
- Contribute to design reviews, technical risk assessments, FMEA, verification documentation, regulatory documentation, and design history files.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field. Advanced degree preferred.
- 10+ years of experience in electrical engineering, mixed-signal systems, ASIC/SoC development, or high-reliability electronic product development.
- Demonstrated ownership of at least one custom ASIC program from concept and specification generation through verification, silicon bring-up, qualification, and production release. This experience is required.
- Strong analog or mixed-signal background, especially with low-noise analog front ends, sensor interfaces, neural signal acquisition, biopotential measurement, precision instrumentation, ADC interfaces, and microvolt-level signals.
- Strong digital background, including data path architecture, multiplexing, serialization, timing closure concepts, clock domain crossing, low-power digital design, data integrity, and robust high-channel-count data handling.
- Experience reviewing or driving ASIC verification plans, including analog, digital, mixed-signal, and system-level verification.
- Experience working with external ASIC vendors, design partners, foundries, packaging teams, or semiconductor test/manufacturing partners.
- Strong understanding of ASIC development flow, including architecture, specification, RTL/design review, verification, synthesis/timing concepts, DFT, physical implementation review, tapeout, silicon bring-up, characterization, and production test.
- Ability to work across analog, digital, firmware, packaging, PCB, and system boundaries to preserve signal fidelity throughout the acquisition and processing chain.
- Strong lab and debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, precision measurement equipment, and custom test fixtures.
- Experience developing and executing verification plans, test reports, requirements traceability, failure analysis, and corrective actions.
- Familiarity with IEC 60601, ISO 13485, design controls, design history files, risk management, and regulated product development.
- Strong documentation skills and ability to translate complex system needs into clear technical requirements and design specifications.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to lead technical discussions across internal teams, external vendors, and senior leadership.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience with implantable, wearable, or high-reliability medical devices.
- Experience with neural recording, bioinstrumentation, electrophysiology, or other low-amplitude physiological signal acquisition systems.
- Experience with ultra-low-power ASICs, low-leakage circuits, sub-microwatt/channel front ends, power domains, and power/performance optimization.
- Experience with mixed-signal designs where isolation, crosstalk, substrate noise, ground bounce, coupling, and packaging parasitics are critical.
- Familiarity with Verilog/VHDL/SystemVerilog, UVM concepts, EDA tools, and ASIC verification methodologies.
- Experience with Python, MATLAB, C/C++, Tcl, or other scripting/programming tools for test automation, modeling, data analysis, or lab characterization.
- Experience supporting production test, yield improvement, reliability testing, accelerated life testing, supplier qualification, or contract manufacturing.
- Experience mentoring senior engineers or leading cross-functional technical teams without requiring formal people-management authority.
Work EnvironmentReporting and CollaborationThis position reports to the Director of Electrical and Firmware Engineering and will collaborate closely with the VP of R&D, ASIC vendors, firmware developers, signal processing scientists, systems engineers, clinical engineering teams, quality/regulatory teams, manufacturing partners, physicians, and external semiconductor design partners.
CompensationThe base salary range for this role is
$160,000 - $260,000 depending on experience, skills, and qualifications.
In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for
discretionary bonuses and/or equity grants, subject to board approval and company policy.
Visa Sponsorship We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position at this time.
Benefits (for W-2, full-time, exempt employees in the US only) ***Intern positions not eligible- Subsidized medical and dental insurance coverage for you and your dependent(s)
- Life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability
- 401k
- Discretionary unlimited PTO
- Flexible Spending Account for you and your dependent(s), with eligible plan elections
- Commuter benefits for NY employees
