What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Physical Design position at ambiqmicroinc?
Company Overview
Ambiq is on a mission to enable intelligence everywhere — powering the AI edge revolution with the world's lowest-power semiconductor solutions.
Built on our proprietary sub- and near-threshold technology, our chips deliver multi-fold improvements in energy efficiency without costly process scaling. Since 2010, we've shipped over 300 million units to customers building smarter wearables, medical devices, IoT products, and AI-powered edge applications.
Our cross-functional teams span design, research, development, production, marketing, sales, and operations across Austin, Hsinchu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore. We move fast, tackle hard problems, and create space for people to grow through complex, meaningful work that shapes the future of technology.
We're looking for self-motivated, creative problem-solvers who are eager to push technological limits and make a real impact in energy efficiency.
At Ambiq, we live by five values: Innovate. Collaborate. Focus. Learn. Achieve.
If that's you, join us — the intelligence everywhere revolution starts here.
This role will be on-site 5 days a week in NW Austin.
Scope
We’re seeking an accomplished Director of Physical Design to lead and scale our physical implementation organization for next-generation ultra-low-power microcontroller (MCU) products. This is a strategic, high-impact leadership role responsible for driving the physical design roadmap, ensuring world-class PPA (power, performance, area), and delivering robust silicon for high-volume embedded applications.
You will guide a multidisciplinary team across physical implementation, methodology, and signoff, partnering closely with architecture, RTL design, analog/mixed‑signal, verification, and product engineering to bring innovative MCU solutions to market.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Strategy
- Define and execute the physical design strategy for low‑power MCU product lines.
- Build, mentor, and lead a high‑performing global physical design team.
- Establish best‑in‑class methodologies for low‑power, high‑reliability physical implementation.
- Drive continuous improvement in design flows, automation, and signoff quality.
Physical Implementation
- Oversee full‑chip and block‑level physical design including:
- Floorplanning
- Power planning and low‑power architecture implementation
- Clock tree synthesis (CTS)
- Place & route (P&R)
- Timing closure
- Physical verification (DRC/LVS)
- EM/IR and rel-ability signoff
- Ensure optimal PPA tradeoffs tailored for ultra‑low‑power MCU architectures.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with architecture and RTL teams to influence early design decisions.
- Work closely with analog/mixed‑signal teams to integrate mixed‑signal IP into SoCs.
- Collaborate with product engineering and operations to ensure manufacturability and yield.
- Interface with foundries to align on technology capabilities, PDK updates, and design rules.
Execution & Delivery
- Own physical design schedules, resource planning, and risk management.
- Ensure first‑silicon success through rigorous signoff and validation processes.
- Drive tape‑out readiness and post‑silicon debug support.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
- 15 years of experience in physical design for complex SoCs, with at least 5 years in leadership roles.
- Proven track record of delivering multiple chips to production.
- Deep expertise in:
- Low‑power design techniques (multi‑Vt, power gating, DVFS, retention, etc.)
- Physical design tools (Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor)
- Advanced process nodes (40nm → 22nm → 12nm and below)
- Strong understanding of MCU architectures and embedded system constraints.
- Excellent communication, leadership, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Preferred
- Experience with mixed‑signal SoCs and integration of analog IP.
- Background in high-volume consumer or industrial MCU products.
- Familiarity with security-focused or safety-certified MCU designs (e.g., ISO 26262).
- Experience building and scaling distributed engineering teams.
Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer. We do not sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas (now or in the future) for this role.