What You'll Be Doing
Develop and maintain features for PathFinder-SC products, working in a large C++ codebase with a focus on performance, scalability, and maintainability
Collaborate with your manager and team to define new functionality, then own and deliver mid-sized projects independently once requirements are clear
Diagnose and fix bugs across the codebase, including memory issues, performance bottlenecks, and logic errors in complex systems
Optimize code for runtime speed and memory efficiency, ensuring tools perform well on large-scale semiconductor designs
Write unit tests, regression tests, and system-level tests to validate new features and changes before they ship
Communicate technical decisions and changes clearly to your manager, tech leads, and other engineers, especially when your work impacts their code
Serve as a technical reference for other engineers on the project team, helping them navigate the codebase and solve design problems
The Impact You Will Have
Your code will power PathFinder-SC tools used by semiconductor companies to route and optimize chips that go into everything from smartphones to data centers
Features you build will directly improve designer productivity, helping customers close timing faster and meet tapeout schedules
Optimizations you implement will reduce tool runtime and memory usage, enabling designers to work with larger, more complex designs
Tests you write will catch issues before they reach customers, improving product quality and reducing support escalations
Your technical guidance will help other engineers on the team deliver better code faster
The distributed processing improvements you contribute will scale PathFinder-SC tools to handle the next generation of semiconductor designs
Your work will strengthen Synopsys' position as the leader in physical design automation
What You'll Need
Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 5 years of software development experience, or Master's with 3 years of experience
Strong C++ programming skills with deep understanding of object-oriented design, STL, memory management, and modern C++ features
Solid foundation in data structures, algorithms, and debugging techniques, with the ability to diagnose and fix complex issues in production code
Ability to quickly learn and understand complex systems, and work closely with others to deliver solutions
Track record of delivering high-quality work on time in a professional software development environment
Experience with large-scale commercial software development is a strong plus
Experience developing physical design or analysis tools for semiconductor workflows is a strong plus
Experience developing, debugging, or optimizing distributed processing systems is a strong plus
Proficiency in both C++ and Python is a strong plus
Who You Are
You can read someone else's code, understand the intent, and extend it without breaking existing functionality or creating technical debt
When a bug shows up in production, you do not guess, you reproduce it, isolate the root cause, and fix it in a way that prevents similar issues downstream
You can explain a technical tradeoff to a senior engineer in a design review and defend your approach with data, not just intuition
You know when to optimize and when to ship, and you do not over-engineer solutions for problems that do not exist yet
You write code that other engineers can read six months later without needing you to explain it
You are comfortable working in a global team across time zones, where clear written communication and well-documented code matter as much as technical skill
The Team You'll Be Part Of
You will join the PathFinder-SC development team in Chengdu, working on high-performance physical design tools that are part of Synopsys's core EDA portfolio. The team collaborates closely with engineers across global sites to deliver features that directly impact semiconductor design workflows. Your recruiter will share more about the team structure, current projects, and how this role fits into the broader PathFinder-SC roadmap during the interview process.
Rewards and Benefits
We offer a comprehensive range of health, wellness, and financial benefits to cater to your needs. Our total rewards include both monetary and non-monetary offerings. Your recruiter will provide more details about the salary range and benefits during the hiring process.
