Place & Route (P&R) Engineer – Privacy Hardware / FHE
Remote – USA | Contract – 6+ Months
About the Company:
Our client is pioneering the next generation of secure computation through hardware-accelerated Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE). They’re building high-performance ASICs to power privacy-preserving applications across government, finance, and AI. If you thrive in technically challenging, mission-driven environments, this is a rare opportunity to get in early and make real impact.
Role Overview:
We’re seeking a P&R Engineer to join a small, world-class silicon team. You’ll own the physical implementation of custom chips designed to accelerate complex cryptographic workloads. This includes floorplanning, placement, routing, optimization, and timing closure.
Key Responsibilities:
- Drive physical design activities from netlist to GDSII for high-performance crypto accelerators.
- Own or contribute to floorplanning, placement, clock tree synthesis (CTS), routing, and physical verification (LVS/DRC).
- Work closely with RTL, synthesis, and architecture teams to ensure PPA targets are met.
- Perform timing analysis and drive closure across corners and operating modes.
- Identify and resolve congestion, IR drop, or signal integrity issues.
- Contribute to design flow improvements and automation for scalable chip development.
Ideal Background:
- 5+ years of experience in ASIC physical design, with a strong focus on Place & Route.
- Proven experience in delivering blocks or full chips through to GDSII.
- Proficient with tools such as Cadence Innovus, Synopsys IC Compiler II, PrimeTime, and physical verification tools (Calibre or equivalent).
- Deep knowledge of timing closure, clocking strategies, and congestion management.
- Experience working on advanced nodes (e.g. 7nm, 12nm, 16nm, or similar).
- Bonus: background in cryptographic accelerators, high-performance compute, or secure hardware.
Nice to Have:
- Familiarity with FHE, cryptographic IPs, or privacy-preserving computation.
- Background in early-stage silicon startups or R&D-heavy environments.
- Scripting knowledge (Python, Tcl, etc.) for design flow automation.
Contract Details:
- Duration: 6+ months, extendable
- Location: Remote – USA
- Engagement: Flexible (W2, 1099, or Corp-to-Corp)
Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.
Reece Waldon
