Principal Analog ASIC Design Engineer

About the Opportunity

We are partnering with an innovative technology company developing next-generation photonic hardware for advanced computing applications.

The company is looking for a Principal Analog IC Design Engineer to establish and scale its in-house analog and mixed-signal IC design capabilities. This is a senior technical leadership role combining circuit architecture, hands-on design, external partner management and end-to-end ownership of custom integrated circuits, from initial specification through tapeout, silicon validation and system integration.

You will play a key role in developing critical electronics for complex photonic systems, including low-noise amplifiers, high-voltage drivers, data converters and digital control interfaces. You will also help shape the technical roadmap, establish design methodologies and mentor a growing engineering team.

Key Responsibilities

• Architecture & Strategy: Define the technical roadmap, circuit architectures and design methodologies for high-performance analog and mixed-signal ICs.

• IC Design & Tapeout: Lead circuit design, top-level layout integration and verification strategies for complex IC projects, ensuring robust silicon performance.

• External Partner Management: Act as the primary technical interface with specialist IC design partners, overseeing process selection, simulations, detailed design, tapeout and post-silicon verification.

• Testing & Characterisation: Lead laboratory testing, silicon characterisation and debugging, investigating performance issues against demanding system requirements.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with photonics, packaging, PCB, interposer, digital control and systems engineering teams to address integration and scalability challenges.

• Technical Leadership: Mentor engineers, establish best practices and provide technical leadership across analog IC design activities.

Essential Requirements

• 10+ years of professional experience in analog or mixed-signal IC, ASIC or VLSI design, including leadership of complex IC development projects.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, specialising in IC design or a related field, or equivalent experience.

• Proven experience leading the full IC development lifecycle, from architecture and design through tapeout, silicon validation and system integration.

• Deep expertise in challenging analog circuit design.

• Experience designing across multiple semiconductor process nodes, including selecting appropriate technologies for specific applications.

• Strong proficiency with industry-standard electronic design automation (EDA) tools, particularly Cadence, and the ability to define simulation and verification methodologies.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical concepts through documentation, design reviews and strategic recommendations.

Desirable Experience

• PhD in a relevant IC design discipline.

• Experience designing interface electronics for photodetectors, optical modulators or co-packaged optics systems.

• Expertise in high-voltage silicon-on-insulator (SOI), RF analog or gallium nitride (GaN) process technologies, including process development and modelling.

• Experience architecting and delivering high-performance, custom digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).

Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

Oliver Logan