Google

Physical Design Lead, ASIC

Google • $192K — $278K *
Telecommunications & Hardware
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 10 years of experience in physical design, with a focus on custom structured datapath implementation.
  • Experience in hardening dense compute units like dot-product engines and ALUs for high-frequency, low-power applications.
  • Expertise in sub-7nm process nodes, specifically managing physical density and routing congestion of custom datapaths.

Responsibilities

  • Own the full execution cycle from RTL to GDSII for custom datapath and matrix multiplication blocks.
  • Analyze performance, power, and area tradeoffs within complex architectures to optimize design closures.
  • Develop and enhance physical design methodologies, focusing on PPA optimization in arithmetic pipelines.
  • Lead key design phases including floor-planning, synthesis, placement, and final verification processes.
  • Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers, ensuring timely project delivery.

Benefits

  • Access to extensive professional development resources at Google.
  • Opportunities to work on state-of-the-art technology in AI/ML.
  • Engagement with cutting-edge projects that influence products used globally.
  • Collaborative and innovative team environment emphasizing growth and learning.
Full Job Description
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X In most instances, this position requires in-person interviews as part of the hiring process.

Minimum qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 10 years of experience in physical design, including custom structured datapath implementation.
  • Experience hardening dense compute units (such as dot-product engines, multiplier-accumulator (MACs), multipliers, or arithmetic logic unit (ALUs) into high-frequency, low-power macros.
  • Experience in sub-7nm process nodes (including FinFET and Gate-All-Around architectures), managing the physical density and routing congestion typical of custom datapaths.

Preferred qualifications:
  • Master's degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or Computer Science, with focus on computer architecture.
  • Experience in structured placement methodologies (e.g., relative placement, data-flow driven layout, and customized power-grid stitching for dense blocks).
  • Experience with tools for logic synthesis, place and route, timing analysis, and design checks for physical and electrical quality; familiarity with tools for schematics, layout, and circuit/logic simulation.
  • Experience with physical design and timing, with managing PT-to-PnR timing correlations and metal-fill impacts on dense structures.
  • Expert-level scripting versatility (Tcl, Python, Perl) to build layout automation and structural constraints within standard EDA tools.


About the job

In this role, you'll work to shape the future of AI/ML hardware acceleration. You will have an opportunity to drive cutting-edge TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) technology that powers Google's most demanding AI/ML applications. You'll be part of a team that pushes boundaries, developing custom silicon solutions that power the future of Google's TPU. You'll contribute to the innovation behind products loved by millions worldwide, and leverage your design and verification expertise to verify complex digital designs, with a specific focus on TPU architecture and its integration within AI/ML-driven systems.

In this role, you will be empowering Google and our customers with breakthrough capabilities by delivering transformational, co-optimized silicon and technology leadership at scale.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $192000 - $278000 (USD) 20% bonus target equity benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google .

Responsibilities
  • Own critical custom datapath and matrix multiplication accumulator blocks, driving execution from RTL-to-GDSII including synthesis, floor-planning, place and route (PNR), timing closure, and physical signoff.
  • Understand math-intensive micro-architecture to perform detailed feasibility studies, analyzing performance, power, and area (PPA) tradeoffs to achieve optimal design closure.
  • Develop and improve advanced physical design methodologies and customize implementation recipes, specifically optimizing PPA across complex arithmetic pipeline structures. Manage different PNR tools - synopsys fusion compiler, cadence (Innovus/Genus), PrimeTime, StarRC, Calibre, Apache Redhawk.
  • Implement and execute key design phases: floor-planning, synthesis, placement, clock tree synthesis (CTS), timing closure, routing, extraction, physical verification (design rule checking (DRC)/layout versus schematic (LVS), electromigration (EM)/IR, and final signoff.
  • Lead sub-chip execution and drive delivery, providing direct technical guidance and mentorship to a small team of engineers to ensure on-schedule project completion.


About Google

Google is a multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products. These include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware. Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University. The company has grown tremendously since then and has become one of the most valuable companies in the world. Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Learn more about Google
Size
156,500 employees
Market Cap
$1,115.4 billion
Industry
Net Income
$40.2 billion
Founded
1998
5 Year Trend
+23.3%
Revenue
$182.5 billion
NASDAQ

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