Test Chip Architect

Join a rapidly growing, multi-disciplinary team and have the chance to interact closely with circuit designers, device experts and process integration engineers. Have high impact and visibility through publications and interactions with imec’s major foundry, fabless and EDA partners.

What you will do

In this position, you will be part of the imec department leading pathfinding and development of next generation technologies, looking at the most advanced devices and systems. As Test Chip Architect, you will be responsible for the design of relevant demonstrators for technology pathfinding. Your role in the team will be to architect the test chip demonstrators that will allow assessing imec advanced technologies in various areas, with strong focus on new memories, including Magnetic RAMs, eDRAM, ferroelectric. This includes the definition and strategy of the test chip for technology assessment, the specifications of relevant test structures, the measurement and characterization strategy, the planning of the tape-out and the follow up of all the necessary tape-out qualifications. In that role, you will interact with the integration and device teams, testing teams, as well as the System/Design-Technology Co-Optimization (STCO/DTCO) teams in order to drive the test chip project to success. 

Your responsibilities will include: 

• Test chip demonstrator definition and specifications 
• Tape-out planning and project management 
• Measurement and characterization strategy 
• Tape-out qualification 
• Participation in the design of some parts in the demonstrator and final GDS delivery 

What we do for you

We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at our imec office in Cambridge, UK or at our headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. We can sponsor visas for relocation to Belgium and UK. 
With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will determine the society of tomorrow.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but also with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth. 

We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits. 

Who you are

• You have a Master degree in Electronics with at least 5 years relevant industrial or academic experience in circuit design. 
• You possess a solid experience in the design of circuit demonstrators and in leading tape-outs. 
• You have a mixed-signal or digital circuit design background and brought your circuit design to hardware. 
• You understand the basic functioning and characteristics of emerging memories. 
• You are acquainted with circuit design tools, including layout and circuit simulation (Virtuoso IC design, Hspice, Calibre DRC/LVS,…). 
• You are acquainted with measurement equipment. You can understand their limitations and take those into account in your design for test strategy.  
• Experience with either PCB, demo board design or FPGA programming is a plus. 
• Experience with automatic, semi-automatic probe-stations or manual probe measurement and notions on probe pad layouts and probecard design is a plus. 
• You have worked in multi-disciplinary teams, ideally both interacting with hardware designers as well as EDA vendors and foundry partners. 
• You have a critical mindset, eager to explore new challenges in the future and evolve together with the changing R&D demands. 
• You are a open and constructive team player.