Physical Design Engineer

Job Description

Meet the Team Step into Cisco's ASIC Physical Design Team, where innovation meets collaboration. As a group of highly skilled engineers, we're redefining what's possible in silicon technology. Our mission is to drive the future of chip design, managing full chip physical implementation from RTL to GDSII and beyond. Working hand-in-hand with Front-End teams, we transform cutting-edge designs into industry-leading silicon solutions. Here, you'll have the opportunity to shape tomorrow's technology, driving advancements in power, performance, and reliability with every project. Together, we're building the foundation for the future of connectivity. Your Impact

In this role, you'll be at the heart of Cisco's silicon innovation, creating breakthrough solutions that redefine the boundaries of what technology can do. You'll tackle complex challenges at the intersection of hardware and software, enabling the seamless integration of our next-generation silicon designs. Your expertise will influence not just how we build, but how we accelerate the design process to deliver high-impact solutions. Beyond your technical contributions, you'll join a culture that empowers mentorship, celebrates success, and fosters your personal and professional growth. This is your chance to leave your mark on technology that connects and empowers people around the world.

What You'll Do

• You will be responsible for macro level RTL to gds implementation and signoff.
• Work with Front-End teams to understand the design architecture to ensure optimal physical implementation.
• Execute physical design tasks, including gate-level netlist synthesis, floorplanning, placement, Clock Tree Synthesis (CTS), and routing.
• Optimize designs to achieve industry-leading power, performance, and area (PPA) metrics while maintaining design integrity through formal verification.
• Conduct Static Timing Analysis (STA), physical verification, formal verification and signoff closure to ensure high-quality results.
• Analyze and resolve Electromigration (EM) and IR-drop (IR) issues, meeting stringent signoff requirements for reliability and performance.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 4+ year minimum of hands-on experience in ASIC design and verification
• Proven expertise in ASIC physical design and verification.
• Knowledge of block-level synthesis, place-and-route (PnR), and timing closure.
• First-hand experience with industry-standard PnR and signoff tools such as Synopsys and Cadence.

Preferred Qualifications

• Understanding of all aspects of physical design construction, integration, and methodologies.
• Proficiency in Physical Design Verification, including techniques like LVS and DRC.
• Experience with physical design EDA tools and workflows.
• Expertise in Static Timing Analysis (STA), timing closure, and design constraints.
• Proficiency in scripting languages like Tcl, Python, or Perl, with a focus on automation and efficiency improvements.

#WeAreCisco

#WeAreCisco where every individual brings their unique skills and perspectives together to pursue our purpose of powering an inclusive future for all.

Our passion is connection—we celebrate our employees’ diverse set of backgrounds and focus on unlocking potential. Cisconians often experience one company, many careers where learning and development are encouraged and supported at every stage. Our technology, tools, and culture pioneered hybrid work trends, allowing all to not only give their best, but be their best.

We understand our outstanding opportunity to bring communities together and at the heart of that is our people. One-third of Cisconians collaborate in our 30 employee resource organizations, called Inclusive Communities, to connect, foster belonging, learn to be informed allies, and make a difference. Dedicated paid time off to volunteer—80 hours each year—allows us to give back to causes we are passionate about, and nearly 86% do!

Our purpose, driven by our people, is what makes us the worldwide leader in technology that powers the internet. Helping our customers reimagine their applications, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals is what we do best. We ensure that every step we take is a step towards a more inclusive future for all. Take your next step and be you, with us!

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