Engineer II, Physical Design - Cores

As the pioneers who introduced RISC-V to the world, SiFive is transforming the future of compute by bringing the limitless potential of RISC-V to the highest performance and most data-intensive applications in the world. SiFive’s unrivaled compute platforms are continuing to enable leading technology companies around the world to innovate, optimize and deliver the most advanced solutions of tomorrow across every market segment of chip design, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, automotive, data center, mobile, and consumer. With SiFive, the future of RISC-V has no limits.

At SiFive, we are always excited to connect with talented individuals, who are just as passionate about driving innovation and changing the world as we are.  

Our constant innovation and ongoing success is down to our amazing teams of incredibly talented people, who collaborate and support each other to come up with truly groundbreaking ideas and solutions.  Solutions that will have a huge impact on people's lives; making the world a better place, one processor at a time. 

Are you ready?  

To learn more about SiFive’s phenomenal success and to see why we have won the GSA’s prestigious Most Respected Private Company Award (for the fourth time!), check out our website and Glassdoor pages.

Job Description:

About the Role --

At SiFive, we’re redefining the compute landscape with our industry-leading RISC-V compute platforms. As a Physical Design Engineer (Entry Level), you will jump-start your career by helping build our next generation of high-performance CPUs. Working closely with industry veterans, you will learn the end-to-end ASIC design flow from RTL to GDSII while contributing to real-world products on advanced process nodes.
We are looking for engineers who are passionate about the intersection of computer architecture and physical implementation. Rather than just executing a push-button flow, you will be trained to operate across design-abstraction layers. By leveraging a strong foundational understanding of how CPUs work, you will help bridge the gap between RTL design and physical realities, learning how architectural choices directly impact power, performance, and area (PPA).

Responsibilities - What you’ll do

• Learn and Execute: Partner with senior engineers to take CPU blocks through the physical design flow, including synthesis, place & route, and timing closure.

• Bridge Architecture and Implementation: Apply your academic knowledge of computer architecture to understand the underlying RTL. Participate in cross-abstraction-layer co-design discussions to see how pipeline stages, datapaths, and control logic translate into physical wires and gates.

• Analyze PPA Trade-offs: Assist in analyzing timing reports, routing congestion, and power metrics to help the team meet aggressive Power, Performance, and Area goals.

• Flow Automation: Write and maintain scripts (Python, Tcl, Bash) to automate physical design workflows, parse reports, and improve team efficiency.

• Collaborate and Grow: Work cross-functionally with RTL, microarchitecture, and methodology teams. Absorb mentorship from world-class engineers to rapidly develop your backend expertise.

Requirements - What you’ll bring

• Experience: 3+ years. We are open to considering new graduates with excellent academic credentials. If you have some work experience with physical design implementation it will be a big plus.

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field. 

• Strong Architectural Foundation: A solid academic grasp of computer architecture fundamentals (e.g., RISC instruction sets, processor pipelining, hazards, memory hierarchy, and cache basics).

• Digital Design Knowledge: Strong understanding of digital logic design and the ability to read and understand RTL (Verilog or SystemVerilog).

• VLSI Exposure: Academic coursework, projects, or internship experience related to VLSI design or ASIC flows.

• Scripting Skills: Proficiency in at least one scripting or programming language commonly used in hardware environments (Python, Tcl, Perl, C++, or Bash).

• Growth Mindset: Highly motivated to learn industry-standard EDA tools (Synopsys or Cadence) and eager to understand the "why" behind physical design challenges, not just the "how."

Why join us?

• Be part of the RISC-V movement and help define the future of computing architecture.

• Work on industry-leading IP adopted by top customers and shipped in high volumes worldwide.

• Collaborate with world-class engineers in a supportive, fast-paced, learning environment.

• Enjoy a culture that values innovation, ownership, and technical excellence.

Additional Information:

This position requires a successful background and reference checks and satisfactory proof of your right to work in:

Any offer of employment for this position is also contingent on the Company verifying that you are a authorized for access to export-controlled technology under applicable export control laws or, if you are not already authorized, our ability to successfully obtain any necessary export license(s) or other approvals.

SiFive is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.