Physical Design CPU Methodology Engineer - Remote
$100,000 - $500,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 10 September 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role defines and drives the implementation methodology, automation strategy, and signoff infrastructure for high-performance CPU cores across advanced process nodes.
What you'll do
- Define and own scalable CPU physical design methodology spanning synthesis, floorplanning, power planning, place and route, CTS, extraction, STA, SI, EM/IR, and physical verification.
- Explore AI/ML-enabled PD tooling, begin synthesis and PnR of CPU partitions, and start developing the new program RM flow.
- Drive automation, constraints, quality metrics, signoff criteria, dashboards, checkers, and debug workflows that improve predictability, turnaround time, and PPA.
- Partner with architecture, RTL, circuit, DFT, CAD, program, data, and EDA vendor teams to enable advanced nodes and productize AI/ML across physical design.
What you'll need
- 10+ years of ASIC/SoC/CPU experience, focused on high-performance CPUs or complex digital designs.
- Deep expertise across RTL-to-GDS implementation and signoff, including timing closure, power optimization, SI, EM/IR, extraction, and physical verification.
- Experience building or owning physical design methodology, automation, or CAD flows.
- Proficiency in Tcl, Python, Perl, or similar scripting languages.
Skills: Physical Design, CPU Methodology, RTL-to-GDS, synthesis, place and route
This role has been open 34 days — well below the 61-day median for Physical Design roles.
Physical Design · Physical Design
|
Open roles in category
661
|
Median days open
61 d
|
Median salary
$185k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Tenstorrent | All employers we track in this specialty (661 roles · 80 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 8 | 661 |
| Open roles in the wider Physical Implementation family | 13 | 1469 · 108 employers |
| Median days open | 166 d | 61 d (+105 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $185k |
Skills observed across this category: Physical Design, CPU Methodology, RTL-to-GDS, synthesis, place and route
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 123 open roles · median 44 d
- AMD · 59 open roles · median 22 d
- NVIDIA · 39 open roles · median 69 d
- Synopsys · 37 open roles · median 29 d
- Broadcom · 34 open roles · median 94 d
- Intel Corporation · 30 open roles · median 12 d
How we counted: 661 open Physical Design (Physical Design) roles from 80 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 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.