---
title: 'Principal Physical Design CAD Engineer at Astera Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-physical-design-cad-engineer-astera-labs-tel-aviv-yafo-pexaz6mbm4xa'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# Principal Physical Design CAD Engineer at Astera Labs

- **Company:** Astera Labs
- **Location:** Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District, Israel
- **Posted:** 2026-11-01
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/asteralabs/jobs/4749775005

## Job description

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at [www.asteralabs.com](http://www.asteralabs.com/).

## Role Overview

Astera Labs is establishing a strategic R&D center in Israel to drive the development of complex semiconductor chips that solve the critical 'data bottlenecks' enabling the future of AI at scale. As we expand our presence in Israel, We are looking for a Physical Design CAD Engineer with at least 3 years of hands-on experience in digital implementation flows. The ideal candidate is highly technical, curious, and eager to drive innovation by combining strong physical design knowledge with modern automation and GenAI-based methodologies.

This is a unique opportunity to take on meaningful technical ownership in a new site, implementing the parasitic extraction (PEX) methodologies and flows for chips that power the world's largest AI clusters. As a foundational member of the team, you will be responsible for the accuracy and efficiency of our extraction environment, ensuring that our high-speed designs are modeled with the highest precision from RTL to GDSII.

## Key Responsibilities

The Engineer will develop, maintain, and improve CAD flows and methodologies for physical design teams, supporting advanced implementation stages from synthesis through place and route, timing closure, power optimization, and signoff readiness.

Key responsibilities include:

- Develop and support physical design CAD flows using industry-standard EDA tools
- Build automation infrastructure for implementation, analysis, reporting, and debug
- Support design teams in areas such as synthesis, floorplanning, placement, CTS, routing, timing, power, and physical verification
- Create scripts and utilities to improve productivity, quality of results, and flow robustness
- Support and enhance flows based on Synopsys Fusion Compiler
- Explore and integrate GenAI solutions to accelerate debug, automate repetitive tasks, improve reporting, and enhance engineering productivity
- Analyze tool results, logs, QoR metrics, timing reports, congestion, utilization, power, and design-rule issues

## Basic Qualifications

- At least 3 years of experience in Physical Design, CAD, or implementation methodology
- Strong understanding of digital physical design concepts, including synthesis, placement, CTS, routing, timing closure, and physical verification
- Hands-on experience with Synopsys Fusion Compiler
- Experience with scripting languages such as Tcl, Python
- Ability to develop automation around EDA tools and large-scale design flows
- Good understanding of timing, power, congestion, floorplanning, and QoR analysis
- Strong debugging and problem-solving skills
- Ability to work closely with multiple engineering teams and support complex design environments
- High motivation to learn and apply GenAI technologies in semiconductor design flows.

## Preferred Experience

- Experience with additional tools such as PrimeTime, StarRC, ICC2, Innovus, Voltus, RedHawk, Calibre, or similar
- Knowledge of STA, low-power design, UPF, EM/IR, extraction, or signoff flows
- Experience building dashboards, regression systems, flow checkers, or automated report analyzers
- Familiarity with LLMs, prompt engineering, AI agents, or GenAI-based coding/debug tools
- Experience with Git, CI/CD, databases, or cloud-based compute environments

We know that creativity and innovation happen more often when teams include diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences, and we actively encourage everyone with relevant experience to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities.

## About Astera Labs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Astera Labs designs and delivers semiconductor-based connectivity solutions purpose-built to unleash the full potential of cloud and AI infrastructure.
- **Entity Type**: Public (Nasdaq: ALAB)
- **Headquarters**: Santa Clara, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Jitendra Mohan, Sanjay Gajendra, Casey Morrison

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Semiconductor manufacturing / AI infrastructure connectivity
- **Target customers**: B2B, primarily hyperscale cloud providers and system OEMs (e.g., NVIDIA, AMD, Intel)
- **Mission statement**: To innovate, design, and deliver semiconductor-based connectivity solutions that are purpose-built to unleash the full potential of cloud and AI infrastructure.

## Products & Services
- **Aries PCIe®/CXL™ Smart DSP Retimers**: Silicon ICs, boards, and modules that digitally recover degraded high-speed signals to extend reach and enable higher PCIe/CXL data bandwidth between compute, storage, and network controllers.
- **Taurus Ethernet Smart Cable Modules™**: Hardware modules that increase network connectivity bandwidth between servers and switches over copper media, removing rack-level Ethernet bottlenecks.
- **Leo CXL Memory Connectivity Controllers**: ICs and boards that expand, share, and pool DRAM memory to overcome processor memory bandwidth bottlenecks for AI workloads.
- **Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches**: A family of PCIe 6 fabric switches ranging from 32 to 320 lanes, including the new 320-lane Scorpio X-Series Fabric Switch for AI scale-up fabrics.
- **COSMOS Software Suite**: A connectivity system management and optimization software that enables configuration, monitoring, troubleshooting, and predictive analytics for all Astera Labs products.

## Market Standing
- **Market Cap**: ~$11.6 billion (as of mid-2026)
- **Key Metric - Revenue**: $35 million (annual, reported)
- **Key Metric - Operating Income**: $173.4 million (2025)
- **Key Metric - Net Income**: $219.1 million (2025)
- **Total Funding**: ~$810.75 million (pre-IPO), with Series C ($50M, led by Fidelity) and Series D ($150M, led by Fidelity)
- **IPO Date**: March 20, 2024
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Fidelity, NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, major hyperscalers
- **Growth Signals**: 92% YoY headcount growth (675 employees); 144 active job postings (+260% YoY); expanded Taiwan operations with a new Cloud-Scale Interop Lab in 2026; shipping millions of devices across all major hyperscalers; 300+ design wins.

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-to-market innovation**: Pioneered first-to-market PCIe, Ethernet, and CXL connectivity products.
- **Patented software-defined platform approach**: Differentiates via a platform that combines silicon hardware with embedded COSMOS software, enabling flexibility, observability, and predictive analytics.
- **Deep hyperscaler relationships**: Trusted partner to the world’s largest cloud providers, with proven interoperability validated in their own Cloud-Scale Interop Lab.
- **Broad product portfolio**: Covers PCIe retimers, Ethernet cable modules, CXL memory controllers, and fabric switches—addressing the full spectrum of AI connectivity bottlenecks.
- **Strong IP and engineering talent**: 443 employees in technical roles; talent sourced from Intel (65), Marvell (37), Texas Instruments (40), AMD (22), and NVIDIA.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling AI infrastructure**: Expanding product portfolio and global footprint (12 countries) to meet surging demand for rack-scale AI.
- **Open standards leadership**: All products are grounded in open standards (PCIe, CXL, Ethernet), ensuring interoperability and broad adoption.
- **Taiwan expansion**: Growing engineering presence and Interop Lab in Taiwan to strengthen integration with leading AI platform providers and system manufacturers.
- **Continued innovation**: Shipping the new 320-lane Scorpio X-Series Fabric Switch and expanding the COSMOS software suite for fleet-level management and optimization.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as collaborative, ownership-driven, and focused on solving complex problems together. The company emphasizes diversity and inclusion as drivers of creativity and innovation.
- **Growth**: Astera Labs supports non-linear career growth—employees can deepen expertise (“scale up”) or broaden into new areas (“scale out”). 92% YoY headcount growth signals rapid expansion and opportunity.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Not explicitly stated, but global operations across 12 countries (including India, Canada, Israel, Taiwan, Vietnam) suggest a flexible, distributed work model.
- **Benefits**: Competitive medical, dental, and vision plans; flexible time off; family planning and parental leave; 401K and retirement plans.
- **Engineering culture**: Strong focus on cutting-edge semiconductor and AI infrastructure technology. High concentration of senior (24%) and specialist (19%) talent. Active internship and new graduate programs.
- **Employee ratings**: 4.5/5.0 on LinkedIn (124 reviews), with high marks for compensation (4.6), culture (4.4), and career development (4.4).

## Sources
1. [Astera Labs Careers Page](https://www.asteralabs.com/careers/)
2. [Astera Labs Official Website](https://www.asteralabs.com/)
3. [Astera Labs LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-labs)
4. [Astera Labs Products Page](https://www.asteralabs.com/products/)
5. [Astera Labs S-1 Filing (SEC)](https://ir.asteralabs.com/static-files/7103a4cb-aa6b-4f11-a4b0-f179cd4c5bee)

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