Project Lead ASIC Engineer

Overview

Draper is an independent, nonprofit research and development company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The 2,000+ employees of Draper tackle important national challenges with a promise of delivering successful and usable solutions. From military defense and space exploration to biomedical engineering, lives often depend on the solutions we provide. Our multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists work in a collaborative environment that inspires the cross‑fertilization of ideas necessary for true innovation.

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Draper is looking for an energetic, service‑mindful ASIC project leader, who enjoys helping others to succeed by providing team members and clients with motivation and support in a positive and professional work environment. A highly motivated individual who will challenge teammates to achieve execution goals while maintaining strong working relationships within Draper and with customers in support of mission goals.

• Design and simulate circuits at transistor‑level to implement architecture and requirement specifications
• Contribute to system‑level design
• Optimize hardware designs for performance, power, and cost
• Evaluate the hardware feasibility of complex algorithms and requirements
• Independently contribute to complex chip architectures and designs
• Independently drive solutions to complex problems – develop requirements, propose ways forward when customer requirements are unclear or incomplete, and adapt appropriately to changes in requirements
• Contribute to business development and proposal activities
• Develop, document, and teach best practices to less experienced engineers
• Perform or guide physical layout, including floor‑planning, and simulate circuits using extracted parasitics
• Perform other duties as assigned

• Proficiency in integrated circuit design
• Understanding of integrated circuits, semiconductors, and general computer architecture
• Ability to write detailed design specifications
• Ability to manage small technical teams
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent mathematical skills
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Excellent time‑management skills with proven ability to meet deadlines
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills
• Ability to prioritize tasks
• Demonstrate strong organization, planning, and time‑management skills to achieve program goals

Requires a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.

Requires 5‑7 years of experience with a bachelor’s degree, or 3‑5 years of experience with a master’s degree, or 0‑2 years of experience with a PhD in ASIC Hardware Engineering or related.

• Lead a cross‑functional team on the execution and development of custom ASICs that support project and mission goals
• Work with wafer fabrication, assembly & test sites to guarantee schedule, cost, and quality
• Provide clear direction to both internal team and external support organizations such as device fabrication and assembly and test sites
• Drive and motivate team members critical to the flawless execution of each ASIC and project
• Provide weekly and monthly updates to program management on status of projects, explaining the issues facing a project
• Interact with customers in support of project status, key milestones, and deliveries. This includes sample deliveries, wafer lot progress, assembly, and testing
• Drive reliability and characterization of integrated circuits to ensure they meet the requirement specifications and manufacturing requirements
• Work with failure analysis (FA) to determine root cause of any reliability and qualification failures
• Maintain thorough and up‑to‑date project schedules with all related milestones
• Develop and implement qualification plans
• Communicate weekly to management on status of each project
• Effectively coordinate material logistics and shipment/assembly/test prioritization
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, and set realistic plans based on required tasks with available resources
• Ability to effectively coordinate and lead geographically…