Ciena Logo

Ciena

Senior Physical Design Engineer

Posted 12 Days Ago
Be an Early Applicant
In-Office
Ottawa, ON
Senior level
In-Office
Ottawa, ON
Senior level
Develop physical implementation flows for advanced mixed-signal SoC ASICs, including floorplanning, power grids, clock distribution, place and route, timing and power optimization, ECOs, formal verification, DFT timing, STA, and GDSII generation. Collaborate with RTL, analog, ASIC, and tool vendor teams while developing scripts to automate backend design workflows and achieve signoff-quality performance, power, and area results.
The summary above was generated by AI

As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena builds the critical infrastructure powering the AI era. We’re a technology company shaping the future of networking, guided by innovation, integrity, and collaboration. Through development opportunities, meaningful work, and flexibility, Ciena supports growth and well-being—on and off the job. Connect with a career that matters.


Ciena’s WaveLogic family of products is a cornerstone of our optical fiber transmission solutions, driving innovation and success in the telecommunications industry. As a Digital ASIC Physical Implementation Engineer, you will play a critical role in developing large mixed-signal SoC ASICs targeting advanced technology nodes. Your contributions will directly impact the performance, power efficiency, and area optimization of our industry-leading WaveLogic ASICs. 


In this role, you will: 

  • Scope and define the physical architecture of designs, utilizing EDA vendor tools to build, adapt, and maintain a robust flow from netlist to full closure and GDSII generation. 
  • Partner with RTL circuit designers and other layout engineers to create optimal floorplans, design power grids, and clock distribution networks that achieve the best performance and power efficiency. 
  • Navigate and fine-tune EDA tool settings, parameters, and attributes to ensure signoff-quality results with an optimal balance of performance, power, and area (PPA). 
  • Identify and propose alternative implementations, trade-offs, and solutions to achieve lower power consumption and higher performance. 
  • Collaborate with analog designers and ASIC/SoC teams to integrate analog blocks seamlessly into the overall design. 
  • Conduct initial Place & Route trials to refine design and correlation, influencing circuit architecture by working closely with RTL designers and architects to ensure reliable and closable physical design. 
  • Generate and implement timing ECOs to achieve timing closure, as well as functional ECOs to address RTL feature fixes when necessary. 
  • Utilize tools like Formality or Conformal for formal verification, analyzing reports and ensuring design accuracy and integrity. 
  • Write scripts to enhance productivity and efficiency for yourself and other backend engineers. Collaborate with tool and technology vendors to drive fixes, improve workflows, and evaluate new tools and features. 
  • Produce concise status reports at various stages of development, highlighting trade-offs and providing actionable insights. 
  • Resolve timing challenges associated with DFT through scan chain reordering, placement, and CTS constraints. 
  • Run Static Timing Analysis (STA), analyze timing reports, and debug issues related to timing constraints and correlation between P&R and STA tools. 
  • Your expertise in physical design, collaboration with cross-functional teams, and ability to innovate will be instrumental in advancing Ciena’s cutting-edge optical networking solutions. 


The Must Haves: 

  • Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering, Computer Science or other applicable scientific degree coupled with significant experience in ASIC physical digital design and timing closure 
  • Understanding of the submicron technology nodes full backend ASIC flow and timing/power/area analysis and trade-offs. 
  • Proven experience working with Place&Route tools. 
  • Practical experience developing scripts to automate tasks throughout the backend flow. 
  • Understanding of UPF and SOCV/POCV concepts 

Nice to Haves: 

  • Experience in working with multiple power domains 
  • Experience with physical verification (Calibre). 
  • Experience with power integrity (EMIR) 
  • Hand-on experience creating and validating timing constraints 
  • Experience with Static Timing Analysis (STA) 
  • Experience with physical synthesis and full RTL-to-GDS flow using industry-standard EDA tools 


Salary Range:
The salary range for this role in Ottawa is $109, 000 - $174, 000


Pay ranges at Ciena are designed to accommodate variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions, and locations, reflecting our diverse products, industries, and lines of business. Please note that the pay range information provided in this posting pertains specifically to the primary location, which is the top location listed in case multiple locations are available.

Non-Sales employees may be eligible for a discretionary incentive bonus, while Sales employees may be eligible for a sales commission. In addition to competitive compensation, Ciena offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision plans, participation in 401(K) (USA) & DCPP (Canada) with company matching, Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), company-paid holidays, paid sick leave, and vacation time. We also comply with all applicable laws regarding Paid Family Leave and other leaves of absence.
At Ciena, we are committed to building and fostering an environment in which our employees feel respected, valued, and heard.  Ciena values the diversity of its workforce and respects its employees as individuals. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination.

Ciena is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status.

If contacted in relation to a job opportunity, please advise Ciena of any accommodation measures you may require.

Similar Jobs

2 Days Ago
In-Office
Senior level
Senior level
Cloud • Hardware • Internet of Things • Other • Software • Utilities
Develops physical implementation flows for advanced mixed-signal ASICs, from netlist through GDSII, optimizing performance, power, and area. Responsibilities include floorplanning, power grids, clock distribution, place and route, timing and functional ECOs, formal verification, DFT timing, static timing analysis, physical verification, scripting automation, and analog block integration. The engineer collaborates with RTL, analog, ASIC, tool, and technology teams to achieve signoff-quality designs and timing closure.
Top Skills: AsicCalibreClock Tree SynthesisConformalDftEdaEmirFormalityGdsiiPlace And RoutePocvRtlSocvStatic Timing AnalysisUpf
One Month Ago
In-Office
Toronto, ON, CAN
Senior level
Senior level
Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Machine Learning • Software
Lead implementation of complex digital blocks from synthesis through physical verification on advanced nodes (3nm). Drive timing closure, power and EM/IR analysis, full-chip floorplanning, IO and clock distribution, DRC/LVS cleanup, ECOs, and collaborate with EDA vendors. Automate and customize flows using Tcl/Python/Shell; support tape-out and photonics integration.
Top Skills: 3Nm Process NodeCadence ToolsDrcEda ToolsEm/Ir AnalysisLvsPythonShellSilicon Photonics LayoutStatic Timing Analysis (Sta)Tape-OutTcl
One Month Ago
In-Office
Toronto, ON, CAN
Senior level
Senior level
Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Machine Learning • Software
Responsible for timing constraints development, STA and timing closure on CMOS technologies, driving timing sign-off, analyzing power/performance tradeoffs, and running full-chip STA.
Top Skills: AsicCadencePerlPythonShellSynopsysTcl

What you need to know about the Toronto Tech Scene

Although home to some of the biggest names in tech, including Google, Microsoft and Amazon, Toronto has established itself as one of the largest startup ecosystems in the world. And with over 2,000 startups — more than 30 percent of the country's total startups — Toronto continues to attract new businesses. Be it helping entrepreneurs manage their finances, simplifying business operations by automating payroll or assisting pharmaceutical companies in launching new drugs, the city's tech scene is just getting started.

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account