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Senior Physical Design Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Senior Physical Design Engineer

Hillsboro, OR · On-site

$113K - $156K/yr

We are looking for a Senior Physical Design Engineer to join the team. #SCHIE #CSME Responsibilities The candidate for this position will be expected and able to complete the following ...

About the Role Altera is seeking a highly motivated Senior Physical Design Engineer to join our Physical Design organization. In this role, you will be responsible for implementing custom IP and SoC ...

About the Role Altera is seeking a highly motivated Senior Physical Design Engineer to join our Physical Design organization. In this role, you will be responsible for implementing custom IP and SoC ...

Senior Physical Design Engineer(7051)

San Jose, CA · On-site

$155K - $160K/yr

Overview of Role As a Senior Physical Design and Verification Engineer , you will focus on high-performance block-level design, verification, and physical sign-off. You will own the resolution of ...

Collaborate with RTL and verification engineers, providing physical feedback that informs design‑for‑PPA and floorplan‑aware microarchitecture decisions. * Make design decisions out of a large ...

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Senior Physical Design Engineer information

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$70.5K

$134.6K

$195K

How much do senior physical design engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 4, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior physical design engineer in the United States is $134,577.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $107,500.00 and $157,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a senior physical design engineer?

A Senior Physical Design Engineer is a highly skilled professional in the field of semiconductor engineering who specializes in transforming circuit designs (netlists) into physical layouts for integrated circuits (ICs). They are responsible for tasks such as floorplanning, placement, clock tree synthesis, and routing, ensuring that the chip meets performance, area, and power requirements. Senior engineers in this role often lead projects, mentor junior engineers, and collaborate closely with other design and verification teams to deliver high-quality silicon products.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior physical design engineer?

To thrive as a Senior Physical Design Engineer, you need expertise in VLSI design, ASIC/SoC implementation, and a solid background in electrical or computer engineering, often complemented by a relevant degree. Mastery of EDA tools such as Cadence, Synopsys, or Mentor Graphics, and familiarity with scripting languages like TCL and Python, is typically required. Strong problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and effective communication are critical soft skills for collaborating with cross-functional teams and managing complex projects. These skills and qualifications ensure efficient, high-quality chip design, meeting both technical and timeline requirements in a competitive industry.

What are some common challenges faced by senior physical design engineers during the chip tape-out phase?

Senior Physical Design Engineers often encounter tight deadlines and last-minute design changes during the chip tape-out phase, which can make ensuring timing closure and meeting power, performance, and area (PPA) targets particularly challenging. Collaborating closely with verification and layout teams is essential to quickly resolve any critical design rule violations or integration issues. Effective communication, attention to detail, and thorough knowledge of EDA tools are key to successfully managing these high-pressure situations and delivering a manufacturable design on schedule.

What is the difference between Senior Physical Design Engineer vs Physical Design Engineer?

AspectSenior Physical Design EngineerPhysical Design Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering; experience in physical design toolsBachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering; entry to mid-level experience
Work EnvironmentDesign teams in semiconductor or chip design companies, using EDA toolsDesign teams in semiconductor or chip design companies, using EDA tools
Employer & Industry UsageCommonly employed in advanced chip design companies, focusing on complex ICsUsed across various semiconductor companies for standard physical design tasks

The main difference is experience level and responsibility. Senior Physical Design Engineers typically lead complex projects and mentor junior staff, while Physical Design Engineers focus on executing design tasks under supervision. Both roles require similar technical skills and work in similar environments, but the senior role involves more leadership and strategic planning.

How much does a senior physical design engineer make in the US?

A senior physical design engineer in the US typically earns between $110,000 and $160,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and company size. Compensation may also include bonuses and stock options, especially in high-tech industries or large corporations.
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Cities with the most Senior Physical Design Engineer job openings:

What are the most commonly searched types of Physical Design Engineer jobs?

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What states have the most Senior Physical Design Engineer jobs?

States with the most job openings for Senior Physical Design Engineer jobs include:

Infographic showing various Senior Physical Design Engineer job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 74% Full Time, 20% Part Time, 1% Temporary, 3% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 97% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 2% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $134,577 per year, or $64.7 per hour.

Senior Physical Design Engineer

Microsoft

Hillsboro, OR • On-site

$113K - $156K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 7 days ago


Microsoft rating

8.5

Company rating: 8.5 out of 10

Based on 132 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

80th of 247 rated software companies


Job description

Overview
Microsoft Silicon, Cloud Hardware, and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) is the team behind Microsoft's expanding Cloud Infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft's "Intelligent Cloud" mission. SCHIE delivers the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's over 200 online businesses including Bing, MSN, Office 365, Xbox Live, Teams, OneDrive, and the Microsoft Azure platform globally with our server and data center infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide and we are looking for passionate engineers to help achieve that mission.
The Compute Silicon & Manufacturing Engineering (CSME) organization within SCHIE is responsible for design, development, manufacturing and packaging of Microsoft's state-of-the-art computer chips, notably the Azure Cobalt. Our solutions provide sustainable strategic advantage to Microsoft and enable our customers to achieve more.
As Microsoft's cloud business continues to grow the ability to deploy new offerings and hardware infrastructure on time, in high volume with high quality and lowest cost is of paramount importance. To achieve this goal, Microsoft's Compute Silicon & Manufacturing Engineering team is instrumental in defining and delivering operational measures of success for hardware manufacturing, improving the planning process, quality, delivery, scale and sustainability related to Microsoft cloud hardware. We are looking for engineers with a dedicated passion for customer focused solutions, insight and industry knowledge to envision and implement future technical solutions that will manage and optimize the Cloud infrastructure.
We are looking for a Senior Physical Design Engineer to join the team.
#SCHIE #CSME
Responsibilities
The candidate for this position will be expected and able to complete the following responsibilities:
  • Drive end-to-end execution from synthesis through place-and-route for large designs, ensuring completion of all signoff stages including timing, physical verification, EMIR, formal equivalence, and low-power verification.
  • Responsible for SOC clocks and driving high speed clock construction and CTS.
  • Drive methodology exploration activities to optimize SOC blocks for clock construction and related methodology.
  • Coordinate with CAD, RTL/Design teams/DFT, Architecture team, Power & Performance team, Technology team & other internal/external partners as essential.
  • Responsible for RTL to GDS implementation in Physical Design domain.
  • Influence design tools, flows, and methodologies in construction, signoff, and optimization through a data-driven approach.
  • Foster collaboration across teams to deliver solutions, aligned with a One Microsoft mindset.
  • Demonstrate technical expertise across various domains of Physical Design.
  • Clear communications on project status & planning.
  • Demonstrate Microsoft core values: Customer Focus, Adaptability, Collaboration, Growth Mindset, Drive for Results, Influence for Impact, Judgement, and Diversity & Inclusion.

Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
  • Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 1+ year(s) technical engineering experience OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience.

Screening Requirements
  • Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

This role will require access to information that is controlled for export under export control regulations, potentially under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations or Export Administration Regulations, the EU Dual Use Regulation, and/or other export control regulations. As a condition of employment, the successful candidate will be required to provide either proof of their country of citizenship or proof of their US. residency or other protected status (e.g., under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)) for assessment of eligibility to access the export-controlled information. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate's citizenship will be verified with a valid passport. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may verify status using other documents, where applicable.
Preferred Qualifications:
  • Min 7+ years of experience in semiconductor design
  • BS/MS in Electrical or Computer Engineering or any related degree
  • Proven track record in Physical Design domain implementing designs through synthesis, floorplanning, place and route, extraction, timing, and physical verification.
  • Communication, collaboration and teamwork skills and ability to contribute to diverse and inclusive teams.
  • Production silicon tape-outs experience in advanced foundry process nodes.
  • Experience in low power design methodology for SOC
  • Thorough understanding of SOC or subsystem design trade-offs across power, performance, and area (PPA).
  • Familiarity with various clock construction strategies for high speed designs
  • Demonstrate technical expertise in all aspects of Physical Design, from synthesis to place and route of partitions through all signoff including timing signoff, physical verification, EMIR signoff, Formal Equivalence, and Low Power Verification.
  • Own complete PD execution of medium to large-size SOC block. Be fully hands-on in technical domain ownerships as individual contributor and collaborate cross-team as required.
  • Partner closely with PD flow/CAD team and PD methodology team to flag & fix PD TFM issues
  • Problem-solving and data analysis skills
  • Ability to communicate effectively with cross-functional teams

Silicon Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

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About Microsoft

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Our infrastructure is comprised of a large global portfolio of more than 100 datacenters and 1 million servers. Our foundation is built upon and managed by a team of subject matter experts working to support services for more than 1 billion customers and 20 million businesses in over 90 countries worldwide. With environmental sustainability and optimization at the forefront of our datacenter design and operations, we continue to grow and evolve as we meet the ever-changing business demands that hold Microsoft as a world-class cloud provider.

Industry

Computer and computer peripheral equipment and software wholesalers

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Redmond, WA, US

Year founded

1975

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