Physical Design Tech Lead/Engineer

About Altera

Accelerating Innovators — Altera provides leadership programmable solutions that are easy to use and deploy, across the cloud to the edge, enabling limitless possibilities for AI. Our broad portfolio includes FPGAs, SoCs, CPLDs, IP, development tools, system-on-modules, SmartNICs and IPUs, offering the flexibility to accelerate innovation. 

Our innovation in programmable logic began in 1983. Since then we’ve delivered the tools and technologies that empower customers to innovate, differentiate, and succeed in their markets. 

Join us on our journey to becoming the world’s #1 FPGA company!

About the Role

As a Sr. Physical Design Tech Lead/Engineer at Altera, you will play a critical role in our backend implementation flow - from RTL/netlist through to GDSII/tape-out for FPGA/SoC devices. You will interface with architecture, logic design, DFT, CAD/EDA, and manufacturing teams to achieve our performance/power/area (PPA) goals, with particular emphasis on programmable logic structures, block and full-chip integration, and the unique demands of FPGA technologies (e.g., configurable logic blocks, routing fabrics, I/O rings, on-chip power domains).

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and execute physical design implementation tasks (floorplanning, power planning, placement, clock tree synthesis (CTS), routing, engineering change orders (ECO), extraction, sign-off preparation) from netlist to GDSII.

• Apply PPA optimization techniques (performance / timing closure, power reduction, area efficiency) across blocks or full-chip hierarchies.

• Collaborate with front-end design, architecture, CAD/EDA tool teams to ensure physical design constraints, timing budgets, power budgets and DFT Insertions are met.

• Develop and improve physical design flows, methodologies, scripts and automation frameworks (TCL, Python, Perl) to accelerate turnaround, improve QoR and reduce manual intervention.

• Participate in timing, power, EM/IR integrity, signal/power noise, DRC/LVS/ERC verification and sign-off readiness.

• Integrate FPGA-specific physical design aspects: configurable logic block placement, fabric routing, I/O ring optimization, power domains for programmable regulation, and yield optimization.

• Work closely with manufacturing and packaging partners to ensure implementation is manufacturable (DFM/DFY), meets yield targets and meets high-volume production requirements.

• Debug physical design issues, interact with CAD tool vendors and internal tool teams to drive tool enhancements or workarounds. Mentor and collaborate with junior engineers; contribute to reviews, documentation of flows, and continuous process improvement.