CPU Server Physical Design Engineer, Santa Clara
$147,900 - $221,900 USD yearly
Originally posted 1 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role involves developing and verifying high-performance and low-power CPU designs by applying knowledge of computer architecture, micro-architecture, logic design, circuits, and physical design.
What you'll do
- Develop and verify high performance and low power CPU designs.
- Anticipate, identify, and solve problems to ensure design completeness, functionality, power, and performance.
- Collaborate across teams to define requirements, specifications, and trade-offs.
- Evaluate the design process from conceptualization to productization.
- Write detailed technical documentation for CPU designs.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience, OR Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 1+ year of related work experience, OR PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
Nice to have
- Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
- 2 years of work experience with high-performance microprocessor design.
- 2 years of work experience with high level programming (e.g., C, C++), scripting language programming (e.g., Perl, Python).
- 2 years of work experience with simulators and/or waveform debugging tools (e.g., Verilog, VHDL).
- 2 years of work experience with industry standard tools for synthesis place and/or route and design verification.
- 2 years of work experience with simulation, emulation, formal verification, or silicon validation.
- 2 years of experience in creating functional models, checkers, test plans, and/or test generation.
Skills: physical design, CPU designs, synthesis, place and route, design verification
This role has been open 8 days — well below the 60-day median for Physical Design roles.
Physical Design · Physical Design
|
Open roles in category
671
|
Median days open
60 d
|
Median salary
$185k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (671 roles · 78 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 131 | 671 |
| Open roles in the wider Physical Implementation family | 180 | 1485 · 107 employers |
| Median days open | 39 d | 60 d (−21 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $185k |
Skills observed across this category: physical design, CPU designs, synthesis, place and route, design verification
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 130 open roles · median 38 d
- AMD · 59 open roles · median 21 d
- NVIDIA · 42 open roles · median 63 d
- Broadcom · 38 open roles · median 88 d
- Synopsys · 35 open roles · median 39 d
- Micron Technology · 25 open roles · median 78 d
How we counted: 671 open Physical Design (Physical Design) roles from 78 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 9 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Physical Implementation family row. Figures refresh nightly.