Digital - Staff Digital Design Engineer - PHY

Job description

Join the leading chiplet startup! As an Eliyan *Staff Digital Design Engineer*, you will be working at a fast-paced early-stage startup creating technologies that fuel tomorrow's chiplet-based systems with best-in-class power, area, manufacturability, and design flexibility. In this role you will lead the frontend design of our D2D PHY - the core tech behind NuLink, our chiplet interconnect platform. You'll own the digital PHY from microarchitecture through synthesis, working closely with our architecture, analog, verification, and physical design teams. This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You'll define PHY architecture, write RTL, optimize for synthesis, create timing constraints, develop firmware sequences, and ensure clean integration across the stack. Your work directly enables next-gen chiplet-based AI and HPC systems. We offer a fun work environment with excellent benefits. ONSITE M-F. ### Key Responsibilities: - **Architecture & RTL Design** - Own D2D PHY digital design from microarchitecture definition through synthesis and PD handoff - Design data path and clocking architecture for UCIe-compliant advanced package PHY - Write RTL for link training, calibration engines, rate adaptation, CDC, FIFO alignment, and lane deskew - Create microarchitecture specs with power analysis, latency metrics, and performance characterization - Make architectural trade-offs balancing performance, power, area, and timing - **Synthesis & Optimization** - Drive synthesis optimization: area, timing, power, QoR - Create comprehensive SDC constraints for multi-clock domains, false paths, multi-cycle paths, CDC - Generate UPF power specifications with voltage domains, isolation, and retention - Establish LINT/CDC flows with rulesets and waiver management - Deliver synthesis-ready netlists with handoff documentation for physical design - **Technical Leadership & Collaboration** - Coordinate with analog PHY team on digital control for TX/RX, PLL, calibration - Partner with verification team on testbench requirements, coverage goals, and protocol compliance - Collaborate with physical design on placement guidelines, clock tree requirements, routing constraints - Work with firmware team on register interfaces, link training sequences, runtime control - Mentor 2-3 digital designers on frontend design and synthesis optimization - Drive design reviews and technical decisions across teams ### Required Qualifications: - 8+ years digital frontend design with 4+ years in PHY or high-speed interfaces - 3+ successful tapeouts as design lead in advanced nodes (7nm or below) - Deep expertise in D2D PHY, DDR PHY, or SerDes digital design - Expert SystemVerilog RTL design with strong synthesis optimization skills - Strong understanding of UCIe or other high-speed interfaces like DDR/Serdes - Advanced CDC design, link training protocols, elastic buffer architectures - Hands-on with synthesis tools (Synopsys DC/Fusion Compiler or Cadence Genus) - Experience with SDC constraints, UPF, STA methodology - Proven ability to lead frontend design and coordinate across teams ### Preferred Qualifications: - 12+ years with demonstrated technical leadership - UCIe PHY design or certification experience - DDR4/DDR5/LPDDR PHY or DFI interface experience - SerDes digital control (TX/RX equalization, CDR), PCIe PHY, or CXL PHY experience - Advanced packaging knowledge: [2.5D](http://2.5D), 3D, organic substrate - Firmware development for PHY control or low-level driver implementation - Python/Perl/Tcl scripting for design automation - Publications or patents in PHY design