Integrated Circuit Process Design Kit (PDK) Developer

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (NGMS) is seeking an Integrated Circuit Process Design Kit (PDK) Developer for the Engineering, Sciences, and Technology (ES&T) Organization. The position is located at the Advanced Technology Lab (ATL) - just outside of Baltimore, Maryland - where we design, manufacture, and test semiconductor and superconducting products for internal and commercial production as well as emerging programs. We are foremost seeking an engineer with strong capabilities across the spectrum of PDK development tasks that has also demonstrated strong technical project leadership and ability to advocate across adjacent disciplines (Design, Foundry, Test, etc.). An engineer that has only installed PDKs or tweaked existing PDKs will not suffice.

At Northrop Grumman our Integrated Circuit (IC) PDK Developers enjoy working on a variety of assignments across a broad range of topics and varying complexity. The IC PDK Developer will be called in to implement and lead the development of PDKs for a wide array of internal foundry technologies as well as augmenting existing commercial Foundry PDKs to allow Northrop Grumman circuit designers to develop discriminating capabilities. He/she will also work closely with management, designers, test, fabrication and integration engineers and foundry technologists to understand what is needed and provide the appropriate support to help the team accomplish assigned goals and tasks.

As an IC PDK Developer at Northrop Grumman you can also effect change in how we pursue advanced technology development. If you see a better way to do things, you WILL have the opportunity to make those changes here at Northrop Grumman. The ideal candidate will have solid experiences in designing PDKs from scratch and familiarity with common industry EDA tools used in the design of Analog Integrated Circuits and/or ASICs.

Join us for the chance to work with an amazing, experienced, and talented team. We are expanding with new work on many development and production programs. If you want to work on a team where your coworkers are excited to come to work and solve problems, and where people are actively invested in their work, then Northrop Grumman’s ATL is the right place for you.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Writing design verification rulefiles
• Writing PDK techfiles
• Writing skill based P-Cells
• Editing PDK model files
• Writing scripts to create CAD capabilities
• Reviewing PDK work of other PDK engineers
• Maintaining PDK documentation
• PDK configuration, release and deployment management
• Leading PDK direction across multiple technologies
• Champion and implement best practices and task automation
• Interfacing with other foundry roles as a subject matter expert
• Mentoring Junior/Mid-level PDK/CAD engineers
• Participate in Agile project management work flows to drive projects to the finish line
• Demonstrate capabilities to stakeholders and support for any feedback and modification

Basic qualifications:

• This job requires a Bachelor's degree in a technical area (BSEE or other Engineering discipline preferred) with 2 years of relevant experience (0 years with an MS)
• Experience in interfacing with engineers and managers to schedule projects and provide schedule updates and roadmaps
• Experience working closely with other foundry functions in the pursuit of process excellence
• Strong analysis, design and problem solving skills
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
• U.S. Citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI Level Clearance

Preferred Qualifications:

• Semiconductor device modeling experience
• Knowledge of semiconductor process development, design, manufacturing and testing
• Experience taking lab measurements on process control monitor (PCM) test structures or interpreting results from automated testing of those structures
• Experience utilizing the Spectre simulator to verify models match measurements
• Experience creating and/or augmenting IC PDKs for compatibility with microelectronics foundry processes
• Solid knowledge of the Cadence Virtuoso environment AND DRC/LVS/PEX within Cadence DIVA, Assura or Mentor Graphics Calibre
• Experience generating scripts (SKILL, Python, PERL, Ocean, Linux Shell, etc.) to provide capabilities within a CAD environment
• Solid interpersonal and team skills for cross-functional collaboration, high attention to detail, ability to self-check work outputs and ability to lead technical projects, awareness of configuration management principles
• Ability to be flexible and adaptable in fast-changing environments

Salary Range: $81,000 USD - $121,600 USD

Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The health and safety of our employees and their families is a top priority. The company encourages employees to remain up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations. U.S. Northrop Grumman employees may be required, in the future, to be vaccinated or have an approved disability/medical or religious accommodation, pursuant to future court decisions and/or government action on the currently stayed federal contractor vaccine mandate under Executive Order 14042 https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/.

Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for most positions.