Principal Analog ASIC Design Engineer

Principal Analog ASIC Design Engineer

About the Opportunity

We are partnering with an innovative technology company developing next-generation photonic hardware for advanced computing applications.

The company is looking for a Principal Analog IC Design Engineer to establish and scale its in-house analog and mixed-signal IC design capabilities. This is a senior technical leadership role combining circuit architecture, hands‑on design, external partner management and end‑to‑end ownership of custom integrated circuits, from initial specification through tapeout, silicon validation and system integration.

You will play a key role in developing critical electronics for complex photonic systems, including low‑noise amplifiers, high-voltage drivers, data converters and digital control interfaces. You will also help shape the technical roadmap, establish design methodologies and mentor a growing engineering team.

Key Responsibilities

• Architecture & Strategy: Define the technical roadmap, circuit architectures and design methodologies for high-performance analog and mixed-signal ICs.

• IC Design & Tapeout: Lead circuit design, top‑level layout integration and verification strategies for complex IC projects, ensuring robust silicon performance.

• External Partner Management: Act as the primary technical interface with specialist IC design partners, overseeing process selection, simulations, detailed design, tapeout and post‑silicon verification.

• Testing & Characterisation: Lead laboratory testing, silicon characterisation and debugging, investigating performance issues against demanding system requirements.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with photonics, packaging, PCB, interposer, digital control and systems engineering teams to address integration and scalability challenges.

• Technical Leadership: Mentor engineers, establish best practices and provide technical leadership across analog IC design activities.

Essential Requirements

• 10+ years of professional experience in analog or mixed-signal IC, ASIC or VLSI design, including leadership of complex IC development projects.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, specialising in IC design or a related field, or equivalent experience.

• Proven experience leading the full IC development lifecycle, from architecture and design through tapeout, silicon validation and system integration.

• Deep expertise in challenging analog circuit design.

• Experience designing across multiple semiconductor process nodes, including selecting appropriate technologies for specific applications.

• Strong proficiency with industry-standard electronic design automation (EDA) tools, particularly Cadence, and the ability to define simulation and verification methodologies.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical concepts through documentation, design reviews and strategic recommendations.

Desirable Experience

• PhD in a relevant IC design discipline.

• Experience designing interface electronics for photodetectors, optical modulators or co-packaged optics systems.

• Expertise in high-voltage silicon‑on‑insulator (SOI), RF analog or gallium nitride (GaN) process technologies, including process development and modelling.

• Experience architecting and delivering high-performance, custom digital‑to‑analog converters (DACs) and analog‑to‑digital converters (ADCs).