Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering
WFA Digital Insight
The demand for skilled physical design engineers in the semiconductor industry has grown significantly, with a 25% increase in job postings over the past year. As remote work becomes the norm, companies like Openai are looking for experts who can navigate the complexities of physical design, from floorplanning to signoff. With the rise of AI-assisted solutions, professionals with a strong foundation in digital skills are in high demand. Before applying, candidates should be aware of the evolving landscape of semiconductor design and the importance of collaboration in a remote setting. Openai's Forward Deployed Engineering team offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of customer delivery and core platform development.
Job Description
About the Role
The Physical Design Engineer role at Openai is a senior position that requires a deep understanding of physical design principles and the ability to work closely with customers to deploy production-grade AI systems. As a member of the Forward Deployed Engineering team, you will be responsible for serving as the physical design Subject Matter Expert (SME) for semiconductor customer engagements, helping to translate ambiguous pain points into clear solution hypotheses, and guiding feasibility and integration decisions across the entire chip design lifecycle.The role requires a strong technical foundation, as well as excellent communication and advisory skills. You will be working closely with customers, FDEs, Product, and Research teams to understand backend implementation workflows, pressure-test AI-assisted solution ideas, and raise the quality of customer-facing technical work.
Openai's Forward Deployed Engineering team operates at the intersection of customer delivery and core platform development, embedding deeply with customers to translate frontier model capabilities into systems that materially improve engineering workflows and accelerate innovation.
What You Will Do
- Serve as the physical design SME for semiconductor customer engagements, helping FDE teams understand backend implementation workflows, constraints, and opportunities
- Partner with FDEs during customer discovery and scoping to translate ambiguous pain points into clear solution hypotheses, success criteria, and technical plans
- Support customer-facing technical conversations as a trusted advisor, engaging credibly with technical leaders
- Help shape AI-assisted solutions across physical design workflows, including floorplanning, place and route, clocking, timing closure, congestion, power, physical verification, and signoff
- Guide feasibility and integration decisions across the entire chip design lifecycle: design, verification, and physical design
- Partner with FDEs and customer SMEs to curate evaluation datasets, golden tasks, rubrics, and acceptance criteria for physical design use cases
- Build or guide lightweight prototypes, benchmarks, methodology experiments, and internal tools that validate opportunities and accelerate solution development
- Educate and mentor the broader FDE team on physical design concepts, implementation flows, EDA tooling, and key trade-offs
- Surface repeated customer signal to Product and Research to help shape roadmap, model behavior, and platform capabilities for semiconductor use cases
- Progressively take on broader FDE responsibilities, including customer discovery, solution architecture, prototype development, production deployment, and ownership of technical workstreams
What We Are Looking For
- BS with 7+ years, MS with 5+ years, or equivalent industry experience in physical design, physical implementation, or backend signoff for complex ASIC or SoC programs
- Demonstrated success bringing complex designs through tapeout
- Strong understanding of physical design principles, including floorplanning, place and route, clocking, timing closure, congestion, power, physical verification, and signoff
- Experience with EDA tooling and implementation flows
- Excellent communication and advisory skills, with the ability to engage credibly with technical leaders
- Ability to work closely with customers, FDEs, Product, and Research teams
- Strong technical foundation, with the ability to navigate complex technical workflows
Nice to Have
- Experience with AI-assisted solutions for physical design
- Knowledge of semiconductor industry trends and challenges
- Familiarity with Openai's products and services
- Experience working in a remote setting, with a strong ability to collaborate and communicate with distributed teams
Benefits and Perks
- Opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology and drive innovation in the semiconductor industry
- Collaborative and dynamic work environment, with a team of experienced professionals
- Professional development opportunities, including training and education programs
- Flexible work arrangements, including remote work options
- Competitive compensation and benefits package
- Access to state-of-the-art tools and technology
- Opportunity to work with a leading company in the AI and semiconductor industries,
How to Stand Out
- Develop a strong understanding of physical design principles, including floorplanning, place and route, clocking, timing closure, congestion, power, physical verification, and signoff.
- Familiarize yourself with EDA tooling and implementation flows, and be prepared to discuss your experience with these tools.
- Highlight your ability to work closely with customers, FDEs, Product, and Research teams, and demonstrate your excellent communication and advisory skills.
- Be prepared to discuss your experience with AI-assisted solutions for physical design, and how you have applied these solutions in previous roles.
- Showcase your ability to navigate complex technical workflows, and demonstrate your strong technical foundation.
- Consider developing a portfolio of your work, including examples of your experience with physical design, EDA tooling, and AI-assisted solutions.
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