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Semiconductor CAD Engineer

San Jose, CA

Full-Time

Position Overview

The Semiconductor CAD Engineer is responsible for designing, deploying, and maintaining the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) infrastructure used for IC design. This role focuses on PDK integration, EDA tool installation and configuration, compute farm support, and design environment optimization to enable efficient semiconductor design workflows for analog, digital, and mixed-signal teams.

Key Responsibilities

EDA Tool Administration

  • Install, configure, and maintain semiconductor EDA tools such as

    • Cadence Design Systems Virtuoso / Innovus / Spectre

    • Synopsys Design Compiler / ICC2 / PrimeTime

    • Siemens EDA Calibre

      • Manage EDA tool upgrades, compatibility validation, and patching

      • Troubleshoot EDA tool performance and runtime issues


PDK Integration & Management

  • Install and maintain Process Design Kits (PDKs) from semiconductor foundries

  • Configure design environments for technologies such as

    • TSMC

    • Samsung Electronics Foundry

    • GlobalFoundries

      • Validate PDK compatibility with EDA tools and simulation environments

      • Maintain design rule decks, LVS/DRC flows, and PDK updates


RF Analog CAD support

  • SoC RF Design Flow Optimization/Automation

  • Workflow Customization, Optimization and Automation

  • Physical Design Flow Support (ex: tiling, tape-out support)

  • Post-Layout Analysis Support (ex: parasitic, power, crosstalk, substrate)

  • Common Design Environment

  • Configuration Management


Compute Infrastructure Support

  • Support Linux-based EDA compute farms (RHEL/CentOS environments)

  • Configure and maintain job scheduling systems such as LSF or Slurm

  • Optimize compute resources for simulation, synthesis, and verification workloads

  • Monitor system performance and resolve bottlenecks


License & Environment Management

  • Manage EDA license servers (FlexLM / RLM)

  • Monitor license utilization and optimize allocation

  • Configure environment modules and tool setup scripts


Automation & Workflow Development

  • Develop automation scripts using Python, Bash, or Tcl

  • Automate tool installation, environment setup, and design flows

  • Support CI/CD-like flows for design environment deployment


Storage & Data Management

  • Maintain NFS-based design storage environments

  • Ensure design data integrity and permissions management

  • Support large-scale design data workflows and backups


Collaboration & Support

  • Support analog, digital, and verification design teams

  • Troubleshoot design environment issues

  • Document tool flows, setup procedures, and best practices

Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications

  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

  • Experience working with semiconductor design teams

  • Exposure to HPC infrastructure and large compute environments

  • Knowledge of containerization or cloud-based EDA environments


Required Technical Skills

  • Strong Linux administration (RHEL/CentOS)

  • Experience with EDA tools from Cadence, Synopsys, or Siemens EDA

  • PDK installation and validation experience

  • Knowledge of IC design flows (Analog / Digital / Physical design)

  • Shell scripting (Bash, Python, Tcl)

  • Experience with FlexLM license management

  • Familiarity with compute farm schedulers (LSF/Slurm)

  • NFS storage management and file permissions


Certifications (Optional)

  • Linux certifications such as RHCSA / RHCE

  • Cloud certifications from

    • Amazon Web Services

    • Microsoft Azure

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