Staff/Principal Mixed Signal IC Design Engineer

Job Summary:

This role will lead project teams and contribute technically across all phases of innovation, design, and development for low-power, mixed-signal, and analog integrated circuits. These circuits are crucial for life-critical implantable medical devices, guiding them from market definition through release and ongoing maintenance.

This position will work across multiple disciplines, extending beyond integrated circuit design to areas like research, marketing, clinical, regulatory, manufacturing, quality, and testing. Success will be measured by the timely delivery of integrated circuits that meet critical clinical and business needs while exceeding industry standards for reliability and quality. Key responsibilities include using state-of-the-art CAD tools for the design, simulation, integration, and verification of integrated circuits and systems. This role will collaborate directly with system hardware, software, and clinical engineering teams, as well as medical consultants, and work closely with IC design, test, and layout engineers in both US and international design centers.

Responsibilities:

• Design and development of high-performance and high-reliability ultra-low power analog/mixed signal integrated circuits for implantable medical products.
• Active involvement in all aspects of IC design, including the development of functional concepts and specifications, top-level design architecture, design partitioning and block level design, detailed circuit design and simulation, layout floor-planning and transistor level layout, bench verification and testing, test-vector development, and documentation.
• Design of novel, robust, ultra-low power, low-voltage analog/mixed-signal IC functional blocks including but not limited to voltage/current references, operational amplifiers, comparators, switched-capacitor circuits (amplifiers, filters, charge pumps, etc.), ADCs and DACs, oscillators, switching power circuits, communication circuits, etc.
• Design of ultra-low power digital functional blocks (combinatorial, sequential, synchronous, asynchronous, state machines, etc.) for timing, control, interfacing and signal processing.
• Create behavioral models for modules and system level verification models for circuits. Perform pre-silicon verification and post-silicon validation of circuits. Collaborate with IC Test group to define production vectors.
• Consult with physicians, clinical research, published literature, and technology leaders on new and existing technologies, trends, and requirements for their uses.

  Education and Experience:

• Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering (MS / PhD) with additional background in biomedical engineering, physiology, biology, and/or business principles with demonstrated expertise in fundamental electrical engineering, circuit, and systems principles and closed form analytical approaches.
• Self-motivated independent thinker able to apply industry research and personal experience to design proposals combined with strong verbal communications skill and strong technical document writing skills.
• 8+ years of experience in analog/mixed-signal IC design for very low power portable and/or implantable applications, with a strong grasp of the tradeoffs involved in using various analog and digital circuit design techniques (RTL or schematic-based) to optimally implement system functions.
  • Preferred: 5+ years implantable medical device industry experience including FDA regulated design controls and product approval process.
• Deep understanding of CMOS processes, device characteristics and models, transistor level circuit analysis and design concepts and trade-offs: BW, noise, power, feedback analysis, stability etc., worst case process corners, margin and Monte Carlo analysis, and design-for-test.
  • Preferred: Knowledge of low power flows, including voltage/power domains, power shutoff, retention is desired
• Solid understanding of circuit building blocks (op-amps, comparators, voltage and current references, DACs, ADCs,) and layout techniques for ultra-low power design to deliver robust, production quality silicon designs.
  • Preferred: Experience with medical domain specific designs such as neuromodulation, charging, low noise biomedical signal measurement and processing, battery energy conversion techniques, and very low power RF communication circuits.
• Extensive working knowledge and use of Cadence mixed signal Design tools, Virtuoso XL, Spectre, Xcelium/AMS simulators along with Maestro, and other mixed signal signoff tools for analog regression testing.
  • Preferred: Knowledge of scripting/language (perl, shell, tcl, python) along with C/C++, as well Matlab is desirable
• Experience in lab bench characterization and test-vector generation for pre-silicon and post-silicon verification, design-for-manufacturing test vector generation, production support, fault isolation and failure analysis, and pre-clinical and clinical testing environments.
• The successful candidate would demonstrate industry recognition of technical accomplishments in the form of patents and/or published articles.
  • Preferred: Experience with international teams and a working knowledge of German would be highly desirable.