Microsoft
Principal Physical Design Engineer
$143K–$304K
Redmond, WA +6 · On-site · Principal · Full-time · Posted Oct 27, 2026
- Location
- Redmond, WA
Mountain View, CA
Santa Clara, CA
Hillsboro, OR
Austin, TX
Boise, ID
Raleigh, NC - Experience
- Doctorate: 3+ years; master’s: 6+ years; bachelor’s: 8+ years; or equivalent experience. Preferred: 10+ years of experience, including 10+ years in block-level place and route.
- Education
- Doctorate, master’s, or bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field; or equivalent experience.
About the job
Deliver physical design tools, flows, and methodologies for Microsoft’s next-generation AI SoC, from block and sub-chip through full-chip implementation and sign-off.
What you'll do
- Develop place-and-route convergence recipes and improve physical design efficiency and performance.
- Implement design sign-off methods for timing, physical verification, equivalence, low power, electromigration, and IR drop; carry out functional and timing ECOs and clocking design.
- Review physical designs, resolve issues, guide engineers, and manage IP collateral quality.
What they ask for
- Doctorate in a relevant field and 3+ years of technical engineering experience, or master’s and 6+ years, or bachelor’s and 8+ years, or equivalent experience.
- Meet Microsoft Cloud Background Check requirements, including passing the check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
- Provide citizenship, U.S. residency, or other protected-status documentation for export-control eligibility assessment.
Nice to have
- Experience in tapeouts of complex ASICs in leading-edge technology; 10+ years of block-level place-and-route experience.
- Expertise in physical-design EDA tools; scripting skills in TCL and Python; understanding of foundry technology files and rule decks.
Pay
USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year (base salary); USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year (base salary)
Tools
Synopsys Fusion Compiler, PrimeClosure, Primetime, Formality, VCLP, Star-RC, Redhawk SC, Cadence Innovus
AI focus
Physical design of Microsoft’s next-generation AI SoC.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative