Principal Engineer – Multi-Physics Sign-off (Timing, PDN & Thermal) - San Jose, California, United States
$262,700 - $355,400 USD yearly
Originally posted 1 June 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role focuses on developing, enabling, and supporting 3DIC and 2.5D physical design and signoff methodologies for advanced multi-die systems. Work centers on building tool-flow automation spanning timing, power, IR/EM, ESD, thermal, CFD/FEM, and multiphysics analysis.
What you'll do
- Develop, maintain, and qualify CAD flows for 3DIC and 2.5D designs, including chiplets, interposers, and advanced packaging technologies. - Develop and support STA methodologies for multi-die designs, including cross-die timing, constraints, and closure strategies. - Enable power analysis, IR drop, EM signoff, and ESD verification flows for advanced multi-die and packaging contexts. - Develop thermal analysis methodologies utilizing CFD/FEM modeling to evaluate conduction, convection, and airflow from die to package to system. - Support coupled electro-thermal and multiphysics flows by integrating power, thermal, and reliability analysis into physical design flows. - Build automation scripts, qualify EDA vendor tool upgrades, and debug flow issues across active design cycles.
What you'll need
- Strong VLSI knowledge. - Minimum 5+ years of system-level experience. - Hands-on experience with 3DIC and/or 2.5D designs. - Familiarity with chiplet-based designs, system-in-package architectures, and their associated design tradeoffs.
Nice to have
- Experience with TSVs, micro-bumps, interposers, and advanced packaging technologies. - Familiarity with Cadence Integrity 3D-IC or Synopsys 3DIC Compiler. - Familiarity with Cadence Celsius Thermal Solver, Ansys Icepak, or Ansys RHSC-ET.
Compensation
Salary Range: $262,700 - $355,400 per year. Salary is one component of the total reward package shared during recruitment.
This role has been open 120 days — well above the 51-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
1003
|
Median days open
51 d
|
Median salary
$155k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Arm Holdings | All employers we track in this specialty (1003 roles · 104 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 4 | 1003 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 83 | 6298 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 91 d | 51 d (+40 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $155k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 72 open roles · median 34 d
- KLA Corporation · 63 open roles · median 48 d
- Teradyne · 61 open roles · median 34 d
- NVIDIA · 53 open roles · median 72 d
- Applied Materials · 51 open roles · median 70 d
- AMD · 46 open roles · median 52 d
How we counted: 1003 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 104 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 22 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.