CPU Physical Design Engineer

Intel is hiring a CPU Physical Design Engineer in Austin, United States. It pays $106k-$200k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Intel.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
The posting mentions Eda, cpu design and rtl among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a junior role.
Intel has 842 other open roles on Level.
Posted within the past two weeks.

AI in this role

Design and verify advanced high-performance, power-efficient CPUs from RTL to GDSII at Intel.

Eda

cpu-designrtlgdsiistatic-timing-analysisphysical-verification

Job Details:

Job Description:

Are you interested in building the next generation of high-performance, power-efficient CPUs?

Join Intel as a CPU Physical Design Engineer and begin your career working on advanced processor technology. In this early-career role, you will work alongside experienced engineers and contribute to the physical design and verification of CPU designs from RTL to GDSII.

You will gain hands-on experience with industry-standard EDA tools and develop expertise across physical design areas including synthesis, floorplanning, place and route, clock implementation, static timing analysis, power optimization, and physical verification.

As part of the CPU Physical Design team, you will collaborate with engineers across logic design, architecture, circuits, and design automation while developing the technical expertise required to solve increasingly complex CPU design challenges.

What You’ll Do

Key responsibilities will include but not limited to:

Implement physical design and verification flows for custom CPU designs, ranging from RTL synthesis to GDS generation, custom and memory designs.
Perform verification and signoff processes such as formal equivalence verification, layout verification, reliability verification, and timing/power integrity analysis.
Collaborate with logic, architecture, circuit, and design automation teams to identify opportunities for design improvements and optimize product-level parameters such as power, frequency, and area.
Build and refine physical design methodologies and automation workflows to streamline the design process.
Work closely with EDA vendors to enhance tool capabilities for high-speed, low-power CPU design.

Behavioral traits that we are looking for:

Learning agility and curiosity: Eager to learn new technologies, tools, and CPU physical design methodologies.
Problem solving: Approaches technical challenges analytically and works through problems in a structured manner.
Collaboration: Works effectively with others and values different technical perspectives.
Initiative and ownership: Proactively seeks information, asks thoughtful questions, and takes responsibility for assigned work.
Communication: Clearly communicates technical ideas, questions, results, and challenges.
Attention to detail: Demonstrates accuracy and quality when analyzing technical information and completing engineering tasks.
Adaptability: Able to learn and grow within a fast-paced technical environment as design requirements and priorities evolve.

Intel invests in our people and offers a complete and competitive package of benefits employees and their families through every stage of life.

See Intel Benefits for more details.

Qualifications:

You must possess the below minimum qualifications to be initially considered for this position. Preferred qualifications are in addition to the minimum requirements and are considered a plus factor in identifying top candidates. Requirements listed would be obtained through a combination of industry relevant job experience, internship experiences and or schoolwork/classes/research.

Note:

For information on Intel’s immigration sponsorship guidelines, please see

Intel U.S. Immigration Sponsorship Information

Minimum Qualifications and Experience:

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field with 3+ years of relevant experience. Or a Master's degree in the same field with 1+ years of relevant educational or work experience.

Your experience described above must be in one or more of the following:

Experience with at least one successful tape-out using advanced technology nodes.
Experience with industry-standard EDA tools such as Synopsys and/or Cadence for physical design flows.
Scripting skills in Python, Perl, or TCL for design automation.

Preferred Qualifications and Experience:

A PhD the same field list above.
Solid background in physical design verification methodologies, including DRC/LVS verification.
Familiarity with layout design rules of advanced process nodes for high-performance CPUs.
Graduate level course work in VLSI design/Computer Architecture.
Exposure to/course work in AI.

Explore the opportunity to innovate at the forefront of CPU physical design and contribute to developing transformative technologies. Join us to make your mark and have a lasting impact.

Job Type:

College Grad

Shift:

Shift 1 (United States of America)

Primary Location:

US, Texas, Austin

Additional Locations:

Posting Statement:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.

Position of Trust

N/A

Benefits

We offer a total compensation package that ranks among the best in the industry. It consists of competitive pay, stock bonuses, and benefit programs which include health, retirement, and vacation. Find out more about the benefits of working at Intel.

Annual Salary Range for jobs which could be performed in the US: $105,650.00-200,340.00 USD

The range displayed on this job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target compensation for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific compensation range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Work Model for this Role

This role will be eligible for our hybrid work model which allows employees to split their time between working on-site at their assigned Intel site and off-site. * Job posting details (such as work model, location or time type) are subject to change.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Intel is committed to Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) compliance and ethical hiring practices. We do not charge any fees during our hiring process. Candidates should never be required to pay recruitment fees, medical examination fees, or any other charges as a condition of employment. If you are asked to pay any fees during our hiring process, please report this immediately to your recruiter.

How we rate this

CPU Physical Design Engineer at Intel rates 0 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

CPU Physical Design Engineer is an open job at Intel.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $106k-$200k a year.
The role is based in US, Texas, Austin.
The job was posted on October 29, 2026.
Seniority: junior.
Applications are handled by Intel. Apply on Intel

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Cpu DesignRtlGdsiiStatic Timing AnalysisPhysical VerificationEda

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where cpu design was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where rtl was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where gdsii was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where static timing analysis was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where physical verification was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Cpu Design, Rtl, Gdsii, Static Timing Analysis, and Physical Verification. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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