Director- Physical Design

Director- Physical Design

About Semifive

Founded in Seoul in 2019, SEMIFIVE is basing its foundation on Korea’s semiconductor design competency that was amassed for more than 20 years. With expertise spanning front-end to back-end design, SEMIFIVE has become the fastest growing silicon design company that offers the most comprehensive design solutions. SEMIFIVE’s core business is its innovative SoC Platform that enables low-cost and high-efficiency SoC design, and also provides full turnkey design services for global customers through its diverse network.

As the cost of developing an SoC and the demand for customized silicon continue to grow rapidly, SEMIFIVE’s SoC Platform will play a key role in turning innovative ideas into silicon. SEMIFIVE, hand in hand with global innovation leaders, is growing as a leading partner for future SoC designs, and thereby becoming: The New Global Hub of Custom Silicon.

Semifive India Design Centre, headquartered in Bangalore, is our rapidly growing capability centre that plays a pivotal role in delivering complex SoC programs for global customers. The India team is at the forefront of RTL-to-GDS design execution, IP creation, and turnkey silicon delivery, working closely with worldwide teams to bring next-generation SoCs to production.

Key Responsibilities

• First Physical design leadership hire in Semifive India.
• Leadership & Program Ownership
• Lead and scale the Physical Design organization in India, managing a team of logic implementation(Synthesis) , PnR, STA, and physical verification leads and engineering execution
• Own execution for multiple SoC programs (3–4 concurrently) spanning Turnkey, Platform, and Customer-specific ASICs.
• Drive planning, execution, and delivery across front-end to signoff, ensuring predictable schedule and quality metrics.
• Execution & Technical Ownership
• Define and own the physical implementation strategy for advanced technology nodes (e.g. 7nm, 5nm, 8lpu, 2nm).
• Guide teams on floorplanning, partitioning, power planning, clock tree synthesis (CTS), routing, timing closure, EMIR, and DRC/LVS signoff.
• Collaborate closely with DFT, STA, Power, Package, and Foundry teams to ensure seamless integration and tapeout readiness.
• Drive timing, power, and area optimisation trade-offs across multiple SoC programs.
• Ensure physical design signoff (timing, power integrity, reliability, and manufacturability) for all programs.
• Customer & Cross-site Collaboration
• Act as a technical and program interface with customer engineering teams across Europe, US, and India.
• Represent Semifive India in customer design reviews, milestone tracking, and technical discussions.
• Work closely with global Program Management, Design, and Foundry interface teams to ensure successful execution of Turnkey programs.
• People & Process Development
• Build, mentor, and grow a high-calibre physical design team with strong technical and leadership depth.
• Establish best-in-class methodology, flow, and automation for predictable and scalable execution.
• Partner with global PD and CAD teams to harmonize flows and enhance productivity.
• Drive a culture of quality, ownership, and continuous improvement in all aspects of design delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical / Electronics / VLSI Engineering.
• 15+ years of experience in ASIC physical design, with at least 5 years in leadership roles managing large SoC programs and teams.
• Proven track record of successfully taping out multiple complex SoCs (≥100M gates, multi-voltage domains, multiple clocking architectures).
• Expertise in PnR flows using Synopsys ICC2, Cadence Innovus, or equivalent toolchains.
• Strong understanding of timing analysis (PrimeTime), EMIR (Redhawk, Voltus), and physical verification (Calibre, Pegasus).
• Experience in turnkey ASIC programs, managing across RTL, DFT, STA, and Signoff interfaces.
• Deep familiarity with advanced process technologies (12nm and below) and their associated physical design challenges.
• Excellent program management, leadership, and communication skills, with the ability to lead across multiple geographies.

Why Join Us?

At Semifive, you will be part of a fast-growing global semiconductor solutions company that is redefining how custom SoCs are designed and brought to market. Joining our Bangalore team means leading state-of-the-art physical design execution for next-generation chips that power tomorrow’s innovations.

You will work directly with world-class engineering teams and customers across continents, influence the methodology, architecture, and execution strategy, and shape the growth of Semifive India’s backend design capability.

We offer a collaborative, agile, and empowering environment that values innovation and ownership. Your leadership will directly impact the delivery of complex silicon programs and the growth trajectory of Semifive in India.