---
title: 'Staff Physical Design Engineer at EnCharge AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-physical-design-engineer-encharge-ai-us-vva2w6eepdbk'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Staff Physical Design Engineer at EnCharge AI

- **Company:** EnCharge AI
- **Location:** Us-, Canada
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-09-08
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/enchargeai36/jobs/4397954009

## Job description

EnCharge AI is a leader in advanced AI hardware and software systems for edge-to-cloud computing. EnCharge’s robust and scalable next-generation in-memory computing technology provides orders-of-magnitude higher compute efficiency and density compared to today’s best-in-class solutions. The high-performance architecture is coupled with seamless software integration and will enable the immense potential of AI to be accessible in power, energy, and space constrained applications. EnCharge AI launched in 2022 and is led by veteran technologists with backgrounds in semiconductor design and AI systems.

## About the Role

EnCharge AI is looking for a highly motivated and experienced Staff Physical Design Engineer to drive the physical implementation of our next-generation semiconductor chips. In this role, you will play a critical part in translating complex microarchitectures into high-performance, power-efficient silicon. Working closely with cross-functional teams, you will own block-level and top-level implementation using industry-standard EDA tools, tackle complex timing closure and power challenges, and guide designs all the way from netlist to successful foundry tapeout.

## Key Responsibilities

- Drive block-level and top-level physical design, including floor-planning, placement, clock tree synthesis (CTS), and routing.
- Achieve aggressive timing, power, and area (PPA) targets through advanced timing closure techniques.
- Perform power grid verification and manage electromigration and IR drop (EM/IR) analysis and resolution.
- Develop and maintain automation scripts (Tcl/Python) to streamline design flows and methodologies.
- Collaborate with physical verification and foundry teams to ensure design rule compliance and successful tapeout execution.

## Qualifications and Requirements

- Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
- 10–15 years of dedicated experience in physical design.
- Strong understanding of EDA implementation flows with extensive experience using Cadence design tools.
- Deep understanding of static timing analysis (STA) concepts and advanced timing closure methodologies.
- Demonstrated success in top-level and block-level physical design, with hierarchical floorplanning expertise a strong plus.
- Proficiency in low-power design techniques, debugging, and EM/IR check resolution/power grid verification.
- Strong scripting skills in Tcl or Python for design flow automation.
- Solid understanding of advanced process nodes and physical verification requirements associated with routing.
- Experience with physical design methodology, flow setup, and advanced flow evaluations.
- Prior experience with PDK management or foundry tapeout processes is highly desirable.

EnCharge AI is an equal employment opportunity employer in the United States.

The salary range for this position is $170,000 to $240,000 USD ($170,000 to $230,000 CAD) per year. Actual compensation offered will be determined based on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

## About EnCharge AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: EnCharge AI develops analog in-memory computing hardware and software to deliver high-efficiency, low-cost AI inference from edge devices to cloud data centers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B – II stage)
- **Headquarters**: Santa Clara, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Naveen Verma, Ph.D. (CEO) and Kailash Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D. (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: AI semiconductor hardware and embedded software products
- **Target customers**: B2B – enterprises deploying AI at scale, edge-device manufacturers, cloud service providers, and defense/industrial sectors
- **Mission**: Democratize advanced AI by enabling deployment beyond cloud infrastructure to local servers and mobile devices, while slashing costs and environmental impact

## Products & Services
- **Analog In-Memory Computing GPUs & Digital AI Accelerators**: Custom silicon (chiplets, ASICs) and standard-form-factor PCIe cards that perform AI inference using analog computation for orders-of-magnitude better energy efficiency and compute density.
- **Software Stack**: Seamless orchestration layer that supports on-device and cloud deployment, enabling model portability, quantization, and compiler optimizations across EnCharge’s hardware.
- **Edge-to-Cloud Platforms**: Integrated solutions for power-, space-, and cost-constrained environments, covering autonomous systems, smart devices, data center inference, and private on-premise AI.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metrics**: Annual Revenue ~$10M (LinkedIn estimate) | Total Funding $162.9M
- **Notable Investors & Partners**: Tiger Global Management (led $100M Series B, Mar 2025), Anzu Partners (led $21.7M Series A, Dec 2022), DARPA ($18.6M grant, Mar 2024), and others including corporate/institutional backers.
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 58.6% YoY headcount growth (75 employees, as of mid-2025)
  - 39 active job openings spanning hardware, compiler, and AI architecture roles
  - 150+ patents granted, 300+ technical publications
  - Talent inflows from Intel, IBM, Cerebras, AMD, Meta, Microsoft

## Competitive Advantages
- **Analog In-Memory Computing Moa**t: A proprietary compute architecture that uses charge-domain analog circuits, validated silicon, and leverages existing semiconductor supply chains.
- **Record Efficiency**: Claims 20× higher TOPS/W, 9× higher compute density (TOPS/mm²), 10× lower total cost of ownership, and 100× lower CO₂ emissions compared to leading cloud/GPU alternatives.
- **Deep IP Portfolio**: 150+ granted patents and 300+ publications from 20+ years of foundational research by the founding team (Princeton, IBM, etc.).
- **End-to-End Solution**: Full-stack hardware and software (compiler, quantization, runtime) designed for seamless edge-to-cloud orchestration without vendor lock-in.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale production and customer deployments of their analog in-memory compute chips for high-volume edge and data center inference.
- Expand software ecosystem to support mainstream AI frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, ONNX) and enable easy drop-in replacement for existing GPU-accelerated workloads.
- Deepen partnerships with defense (DARPA) and enterprise cloud providers, emphasizing data privacy, security, and sustainability.
- Double down on sustainability messaging (100× lower CO₂) to meet ESG mandates in enterprise AI procurement.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven Impact**: Opportunity to make AI accessible to the “99%” by dramatically reducing energy and cost barriers. Work is cited as a “once-in-a-lifetime” chance by leadership.
- **World-Class Team**: Colleagues include industry luminaries from Princeton, IBM, and top semiconductor houses; 57% of staff are in technical roles (engineering, research, compiler).
- **Culture of Collaboration & Innovation**: The careers page highlights integrity, growth, and collaborative problem-solving in a fast-paced startup environment.
- **Comprehensive Rewards**: Benefits package includes typical startup perks; equity likely offered given funding stage.
- **Work Policy**: Hybrid presence indicated by offices in Santa Clara, Canada, Germany, Norway, South Korea, and India. Remote flexibility likely for some roles.
- **Active Hiring**: 39 open positions across DFT, physical design, compiler engineering, and NPU architecture – strong signal of scaling and technical investment.

## Sources
1. [EnCharge AI Official Website](https://www.enchargeai.com/)
2. [EnCharge AI Careers Page](https://www.enchargeai.com/careers)
3. [EnCharge AI About Us (Leadership & Founders)](https://www.enchargeai.com/about-us)
4. [EnCharge AI LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/encharge-ai)
5. [CB Insights Profile – EnCharge AI](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/encharge-ai)

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