Principal Physical Design Engineer - SoC Floorplanning & Methodology

Microsoft Silicon, Cloud Hardware, and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) is at the heart of Microsoft’s global cloud infrastructure, powering the technology behind some of the world’s most widely used digital services, including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Teams, OneDrive, Bing, and Xbox.

Our team designs, develops, and delivers the foundational hardware and infrastructure that enable Microsoft’s cloud services to operate securely, reliably, and at a global scale. With a focus on innovation, performance, efficiency, and sustainability, SCHIE plays a critical role in shaping the future of cloud computing.

As Microsoft’s cloud business continues to expand, delivering cutting-edge hardware solutions at scale, on time, and with quality has never been more important. The AISIE team plays a key role in making this possible by driving engineering excellence, optimising hardware design and manufacturing processes, and supporting the development of high-performance, scalable, and sustainable cloud infrastructure.

About the Role

We are looking for a talented Physical Design Engineer to help shape the next generation of Microsoft’s silicon technology.

In this role, you will take ownership of partition-level floorplanning and physical design optimisation, with a focus on achieving the optimal possible balance of Power, Performance, and Area (PPA).

You will collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to develop and implement innovative physical design solutions that meet current product requirements while anticipating future technology advancements.

Your responsibilities will span the full physical design lifecycle, from synthesis and place-and-route through to final signoff. This includes timing closure, physical verification, electromigration and IR drop (EMIR) analysis, formal equivalence checking, low-power verification, and security implementation.

You will also design and implement robust clock distribution solutions, ensuring that designs meet demanding performance, power, and reliability requirements.

This is an opportunity to work on complex silicon engineering challenges, collaborate with experienced engineers, and contribute directly to the technology powering Microsoft’s global cloud infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Lead and execute Physical Design activities specific focus on floorplan Architecture and Methodology at Sub-chip and SoC levels

Contribute to Physical Design flow development, automation, and methodology improvements pertaining floorplan and construction.

Evaluate and recommend technology nodes, IP selection, EDA tools, and vendor solutions.

Provide clear and concise status updates on progress, risks, and mitigation plans to management.

Operate with minimal supervision while maintaining attention to detail.

Support program needs, including occasional travel as required.

Required/minimum qualifications

Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND relevant technical engineering experience OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND substantial technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND extensive technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience.