WHAT DOES AN IC DESIGN ENGINEER DO?
Published: Aug 8, 2025 - The IC Design Engineer develops and verifies ultra-low power analog blocks and mixed-signal CMOS sensor ICs for automotive applications based on customer and marketing requirements. This role involves designing transistor-level analog circuits, debugging complex integrated circuit issues in the lab, and supporting bench characterization and evaluation efforts. The engineer also collaborates with cross-functional teams to ensure specification alignment, resolve technical challenges, and deliver high-quality design releases on schedule.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for IC Design Engineer
1. IC Design Engineer Duties
- Circuit Design: Perform circuit design/simulations of voltage regulators and other power management, analog and mixed-signal circuits to verify that circuit performance meets specifications
- Schematic Changes: Perform design/schematic changes
- Layout Generation: Perform and/or supervise layout generation and changes
- Post-Layout Simulation: Perform post-layout simulations and optimizations
- Design Review: Document and summarize design and simulation results and host well-organized design reviews
- Specification Documentation: Provide specification, design review and test requirements documentation to guide the support team (system, application, ATE test engineers, etc.) to meet design quality, yield and schedule targets
- Behavioral Modeling: Build behavioral modeling of analog and digital circuits and complete mixed-signal simulations for verification of chip-level and system-level performance
- Layout Definition: Define layout requirements for layout engineers or complete the circuit layout autonomously
- Design Debugging: Characterize and debug designs in the lab and test platform for mass production
2. Senior IC Design Engineer Details
- CMOS Support: Work with CMOS technologies and support digital processors and/or custom digital interface design or verification tasks for integrated circuit devices to be utilized in high-reliability public safety communications systems
- RTL Design: Assist with Verilog RTL-level digital design, debugging and problem solving in the design and implementation of interfaces, state machines, and controlling logic to create new products
- Digital Synthesis: Digital synthesis, place-and-route, static timing analysis, logical equivalence checking, gate level simulation, SCAN insertion, power and EMIR analysis, low power design (UPF/CPF)
- Design Ownership: Own, improve and drive design assignments to completion
- Silicon Validation: Conduct Silicon validation in the lab
- Team Collaboration: Work with a team of highly qualified engineers
- Problem Solving: Analyze and troubleshoot complex problems
- Analog Design: Design and development of analog electronic IC design for use in photonic systems design
- Circuit Simulation: Simulate and verify the schematics, layouts and masks of IC circuits
- Process Identification: Identify any process-design kits and IP blocks
- Foundry Interaction: Interact with foundries and packagers to utilise multi-project wafer runs
- Technical Documentation: Provide technical documentation detailing requirements, specifications and implemented systems
- Requirements Planning: Interact with photonics and electronics engineers to generate requirements and test plans
3. Senior IC Design Engineer Responsibilities
- Analog Design: Definition and design of analog power and mixed-signal circuitry
- Architecture Optimization: Design and architecture optimization to improve performance and cost
- Design Validation: Design performance validation using SPECTRE and AMS simulation environments
- Layout Planning: Layout planning and mask designer supervision
- Macro Modeling: Macro-modeling of circuitry to support system-level verification
- Design Documentation: Producing thorough design documentation to support other functional areas
- Team Coordination: Project team interactions to coordinate assignments and solve problems
- I/O Development: Develop finFET-based high-speed I/O for die-to-die interface in multi-die packages
- Schematic Design: Architectural and schematic design of ultralow-power transmitter and receiver circuit topologies
- System Evaluation: System architecture and evaluation of data recovery and clock distribution strategies
- Signal Evaluation: Signal/power integrity evaluation with on-package channels
- System Modeling: High-level system modelling of the I/O link to analyze link integrity and jitter budgeting
4. IC Design Engineer Job Summary
- Transistor Design: Create transistor-level designs of circuits to meet specifications
- Design Verification: Verify designs using transistor-level and behavioral-level simulations
- Layout Supervision: Supervise circuit layout and perform AMS simulation for top-level verification
- Regulator Modeling: Model DC-DC switching regulator’s behavior with Simplis or Verilog-A or Verilog-AMS
- RTL Understanding: Read and understand Verilog RTL
- Test Planning: Write circuit documentation and test plan
- Test Collaboration: Work with the test engineer to firm up test plans and design for testability
- Lab Validation: Validate circuit performance in the lab
- Solution Architecture: Build requirements and architect solutions spanning chip-level to cell-level considerations
- Schematic Creation: Design to requirements spanning block definitions, schematic creation and simulation
- Design Iteration: Accomplish Design integration, testing, analyses and iterations
- Project Execution: Create project plans and execute with adherence to schedule and budget
- PLL Architecture: Responsible for defining and developing digital PLL architecture based on product spec
- Digital Design: Responsible for digital design including RTL coding, verification/simulation, synthesis, static timing analysis, scan insertion and test pattern generation
- Place Routing: Overseeing the automatic placement and routing
5. IC Design Engineer Accountabilities
- Analog Verification: Drive development and verification of ultra-low power analog blocks and mixed-signal CMOS sensor ICs for the automotive market
- Requirement Alignment: Drive analog circuit requirements discussions, technical issues and other design aspects with internal teams and marketing to arrive at agreed-upon product specifications and on-time quality design releases
- Sensor Specification: Specify CMOS image sensor performance requirements based on Marketing and Customer input
- Creative Solutions: Propose innovative and creative solutions to meet customer needs
- Manufacturing Support: Support Manufacturing in troubleshooting operations involving automotive imaging devices through assembly and test
- Project Delivery: Work diligently with the analog team to accomplish project goals and meet schedule requirements
- Team Communication: Draft presentations and/or documents to communicate with internal teams, management, or Customer teams
- Transistor Design: Detailed transistor-level design of analog circuits for new CMOS image sensor products
- Circuit Debugging: Debugging complex integrated circuit problems in the laboratory
- Team Support: Support team debug efforts
- Bench Characterization: Perform bench characterization and support application engineering bench evaluation efforts
- DFT Strategy: Analyze analog/power design aspects related to DFT and collaborate with other teams to develop a DFT strategy for block designs
- Testing Methodology: Develop CMOS image sensor testing methodologies and plans for high-volume production testing
- Design Documentation: Documentation of designs including architecture and circuit descriptions, testing procedures, and safety mechanisms
- Post-Silicon Validation: Analog design experience and proficiency in verification, documentation and post-silicon validation