Integrated Circuit Designer

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Level 5 Technical Staff provide critical multi-domain or new domain innovative research to the Laboratory's national security mission. They prototype solutions for state-of-the art technology and engage across the program lifecycle, leading projects or major technical workstreams in partnership with project and team leaders. As a successful Level 5 Technical Staff candidate, you will lead projects or major technical workstreams requiring deep expertise and sound judgment, with the ability to successfully navigate technical complexity. You will perform independent research to solve complex problems, manage programs and/or lead teams on extraordinary technology prototype efforts, and develop creative new ideas and approaches that support critical mission needs.

As a successful Level 5 Technical Staff, you will have deep technical expertise, sound judgment, and the ability to lead through ambiguity. You will, with ease, effectively connect your technical depth with the Laboratory's broader program objectives. Working across multi-disciplinary teams and sponsor-driven efforts, you will efficiently help develop and execute programs, create briefings and reports, and often interface with sponsors. In this role, you are a technical leader, mentoring others, and continuously improving practices within an applicable Group or mission area. You will also guide and mentor Associate Technical Staff, Assistant Technical Staff, and other technical support personnel.

The Advanced Imager Technology Group is seeking to hire a Technical Staff member to develop next generation readout integrated circuit architectures as part of the group's portfolio of imager technology. Current research areas include designs in advanced technology nodes (< 32 nm) and on-chip digital processing and reconfigurable logic. The position requires broad knowledge of integrated design techniques and tools from concept development and modeling to physical implementation and tapeout.

The candidate will be a member of a design team and must value teamwork, collaboration, and creative thinking. The design team fits within a larger vertically integrated team whose goal is to develop imaging systems for a wide variety of applications. The successful applicant must have a growth mindset with an expectation for continuous improvement of self and others through shared learning.

• Leads projects or major workstreams involving multi-disciplinary design, development, data analysis, programming, prototyping, integration, testing, or transition activities.
• Applies extensive technical expertise to solve significantly complex problems while effectively evaluating alternative approaches, trade-offs, risks, and mission-driven implications.
• Within assigned projects or mission areas, consistently influences the technical approach towards mission research, systems/ subsystems, architecture design and integration.
• Structures and manages execution of ambiguous work, concisely translating project objectives into actionable technical plans based on nuanced policies and procedures.
• Mentors others within the Group by consistently reviewing work and providing constructive feedback, offering technical guidance, and helping them to develop and hone their judgment and problem-solving skills.
• Proactively identifies opportunities to improve tools, processes, methods, documentation, or execution practices within the Group.
• Substantively contributes to engineering or scientific papers, technical reports, presentations, and, where applicable, proposal or grant materials.

Candidates should have a deep expertise in at least two of the following areas:

• Digital IC design
• Industry standard IC design flows (Cadence, Mentor, Synopsys)
• HDL programming and simulation
• Synthesis and Place and Route
• Functional verification
• Timing analysis techniques
• Scripting (Python, Perl)
• FinFET and multi-gate transistor design techniques
• Advanced process design kits (PDKs) for sub-22nm nodes
• Multi-patterning and litho-friendly design practices
• Power management and leakage mitigation in advanced nodes
• Signal integrity and parasitic extraction for nanoscale designs
• Design for manufacturability (DFM) at advanced technology nodes
• Low-power design techniques (power gating, dynamic voltage/frequency scaling)

Experience in more than two of the technical skills above as well as the following:

• Full custom design
• Physical verification
• A Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field. In lieu of a PhD, candidates with a MS degree and 5+ years of experience will be considered.

Familiarity with imaging systems or digital signal processing is desirable.

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field and typically 6+ years of relevant experience; or Master's degree and typically 4+ years of relevant experience; or PhD and typically 0+ years of relevant experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Diverse technical expertise with demonstrated ability to adapt that expertise to unfamiliar or emerging disciplines, systems, mission areas, or methods.
• Established educational, skill, and experience levels that demonstrate an ability to apply significant technical judgment to solve broad technical challenges that require integration across related systems or methods.
• Demonstrated ability to lead projects or major workstreams and deliver complex technical outcomes.
• Experience evaluating trade-offs, recommending paths forward, and adapting technical approaches to evolving project needs.
• Demonstrated mentorship, collaboration, and ability to communicate recommendations, risks, and technical findings to varied audiences.
• Experience contributing to technical reports, papers, presentations, proposals, or other formal technical deliverables.