Principal CAD Engineer

Overview Rambus, a premier chip and silicon IP provider, is seeking to hire an exceptional PE CAD Engineer to join our Central CAD Team at our Bangalore, India location. The selected candidate will be joining some of the brightest inventors and engineers in the world to develop semiconductor products that make data faster and safer. As a PE CAD Engineer, you will play a key technical leadership role in architecting and scaling CAD tools, flows, and methodologies for a global design organization working on advanced technology nodes. The Central CAD team operates across the US and India, delivering EDA infrastructure, design methodologies, and automation solutions that enable high-performance semiconductor products, including memory interface chips, interconnect solutions, and silicon IP. This role offers the opportunity to work on complex, high-impact problems spanning PDK enablement, design automation, and large-scale EDA infrastructure, with strong cross-functional visibility across design, CAD, and infrastructure teams. Rambus offers a flexible work environment, embracing a hybrid approach for the majority of our office-based roles. We encourage employees to spend an average of at least three days per week working onsite, allowing for two days of remote work. Responsibilities Architect, develop, and deploy scalable CAD tools, flows, and methodologies to enable efficient design and verification across advanced process nodes. Lead end-to-end ownership of analog/custom design flows, including schematic, layout, simulation, LVS, DRC, parasitic extraction, and EM/IR analysis. Develop and collaborate on PDK enablement and customization, ensuring robust, production-ready design environments across multiple technology nodes. Design and implement automation frameworks to improve productivity, turnaround time, and design quality using Python, SKILL, Tcl, Perl, and shell scripting. Own and maintain critical design collaterals (PCell libraries, standard cells, tech files, and rule decks) in collaboration with foundries and internal teams. Partner closely with analog and physical design teams to diagnose complex design methology and tool issues, and drive timely resolution. Collaborate with EDA infrastructure teams on tool deployment, license optimization (including LSF/grid environments), scalable compute utilization, and version control systems. Evaluate, benchmark, and integrate new EDA tools, features, and methodologies to drive continuous productivity improvements. Champion the evaluation and deployment of AI-assisted engineering solutions to enhance CAD productivity, design quality, and workflow efficiency. Provide technical leadership and mentorship within the CAD team, influencing best practices and raising the bar on execution. Qualifications Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field, with 15 years of industry experience in CAD, EDA infrastructure, or design automation. Deep expertise in analog/custom design methodologies; exposure to RTL-to-GDS digital flows (synthesis, place-and-route, STA) is a strong plus. Strong understanding of semiconductor design data formats including OA, GDS, CDL, SPICE, SPF, RTL, Verilog, LEF/DEF, LIB, SDF, and SDC. Proven hands-on experience with physical verification (LVS/DRC), DFM, parasitic extraction, circuit simulation, and EMIR analysis. Experience with industry-standard EDA tools such as Virtuoso, Spectre, HSPICE, Calibre, StarRC, Voltus, Totem, NanoTime, PrimeSim-XA, or equivalent tools from Cadence, Synopsys/Ansys, and Siemens. Strong programming and automation expertise, with proficiency in Python (preferred), SKILL, Tcl, Perl, and/or shell scripting. Experience with design data management and revision control systems (e.g., Perforce, Methodics). Solid understanding of advanced process technologies and associated design challenges. Demonstrated ability to analyze, scale, and optimize complex CAD/design workflows across large, shared compute environments. Strong communication skills and proven ability to collaborate effectively across globally distributed teams About Rambus Rambus is a global company that makes industry-leading memory interface chips and Silicon IP to advance data center connectivity and solve the bottleneck between memory and processing. With over 30 years of semiconductor experience, we are a leading provider of high-performance products and innovations that maximize the bandwidth, capacity and security for AI and other data-intensive workloads. Our world-class team is the foundation of our company, and our innovative spirit drives us to develop the cutting-edge products and technologies essential for tomorrow’s systems. Rambus offers a competitive compensation package, including base salary, bonus, equity and employee benefits. Rambus is committed to cultivating a culture where we actively seek to understand, respect, and celebrate the complex and rich identities of ourselves and others. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives are geared towards valuing the differences in backgrounds, experiences, and thoughts at Rambus to help enhance collaboration, teamwork, engagement, and innovation. At Rambus, we believe that we can be our best when every member of our organization feels respected, included, and heard. Rambus is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Rambus is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans during our job application procedures. If you require assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please feel free to inform us in your application. Rambus does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies or fee-based recruitment services. For more information about Rambus, visit rambus.com. For additional information on life at Rambus and our current openings, check out rambus.com/careers/.