Industry · Semiconductor
Principal-Level Chip Engineers for Semiconductor Design Programs
Six weeks from tape-out and you're down a DFT engineer. Your internal team has been running the req for three months. The resumes coming in are from engineers who've never touched ATPG at your process node, and you've spent more time calibrating what you need than actually evaluating candidates. That's the problem we built Game 7 to solve.
We place mid, senior, and principal-level contract engineers across the full chip design stack. Front-end RTL, DFT, design verification, physical design, and SoC architecture. Exclusively at semiconductor companies where this work defines the product. Our recruiters understand the difference between a DFT engineer who can own tapeout signoff and one who can run a handed-to-them ATPG flow. We screen for both, and we tell you which you're getting.
Roles we place
Chip Design Engineering Talent
Every engineer submitted has been screened against four criteria: technical depth, domain match, active availability, and rate alignment. Below is the scope of disciplines we cover in semiconductor.
DFT Engineers / DFT Architects
Scan insertion, ATPG (Synopsys TetraMAX / Siemens Tessent), scan compression (DFTMAX, TestKompress), MBIST/LBIST design and integration, tapeout signoff. For full-chip DFT strategy and hierarchical SoC test planning, DFT Architects available.
RTL Design / Digital Design Engineers
Synthesizable SystemVerilog/Verilog, clock domain crossing (CDC) design and verification, SDC constraint authoring, synthesis (Synopsys Design Compiler, Cadence Genus). Microarchitects available for block-level ownership and PPA tradeoff decisions.
Design Verification Engineers
UVM testbench architecture, constrained-random methodology, SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA), functional coverage closure. Formal verification engineers (Synopsys VC Formal, Cadence JasperGold) available. Emulation and FPGA prototyping engineers for SoC-level bring-up.
Physical Design Engineers
Floorplanning, placement, clock tree synthesis (CTS), routing, timing closure across MMMC corners. Synopsys ICC2 and Cadence Innovus. Critical differentiation: process node experience. We ask what node, and we verify.
STA Engineers / Timing Engineers
Multi-mode multi-corner (MMMC) analysis, Synopsys PrimeTime signoff, parasitic extraction (StarRC, Quantus), ECO-driven timing closure.
SoC Architects / Microarchitects
Bus topology definition, memory hierarchy, power domain strategy, clock architecture. Principal-level; typically 15+ years with multi-tapeout experience at your target process generation.
Physical Verification Engineers
DRC/LVS/ERC signoff using Siemens Calibre (industry standard). Tapeout coordinators for full-chip GDSII assembly and foundry handoff.
Analog & Mixed-Signal Engineers
PLL, SerDes, LDO, bandgap, ADC/DAC design. Cadence Virtuoso / Spectre. SerDes specialists for 112G PAM4 and above available.
Electro-Mechanical Packaging Engineers
Substrate and bump-map definition, flip-chip and wire-bond package development, thermo-mechanical reliability across the die-package-board stack: CTE mismatch, warpage, die stress, and solder-joint fatigue under thermal cycling, underfill selection. Cadence Allegro Package Designer, Ansys Mechanical / Icepak / SIwave, Abaqus. Advanced packaging specialists for 2.5D/3D, silicon interposer, and chiplet integration (CoWoS, EMIB, Foveros, UCIe) available. We ask what package technology and OSAT, and we verify.
Why Game 7
The Three Things That Separate Us on Chip Programs
01
Process Node Depth Is Verified, Not Assumed
Physical design at 28nm is a fundamentally different problem than at 3nm. The congestion profile, the multi-patterning rules, the signal integrity challenges. None of them translate directly. We ask what process node every engineer has actually worked at, what the tapeout experience looked like, and what challenges they owned. You don't get surprised on Day 1.
02
We Speak the Language Without You Having to Teach It
When you say ATPG coverage target, scan compression ratio, timing closure ECO, or CDC signoff, we don't ask you to explain. Our screening questions are built around the vocabulary and workflow of chip design programs at the level you're running. That means the calibration call is short, and the shortlist is relevant.
03
Eda Toolchain Match
Whether your front-end runs on Synopsys VCS and VC Formal, your back-end is on ICC2, or your DFT flow is Siemens Tessent-based, we screen for your specific toolchain. EDA tool fluency is a real ramp-time factor at the principal level. We don't send Cadence Innovus engineers to ICC2 shops without flagging the gap.
The screening standard
Technical depth
Domain expertise verified through structured discipline-specific screening
Domain match
Experience in your specific discipline, tools, and program phase
Active availability
Confirmed ready to start within your timeline
Rate alignment
Validated against your program budget before submission
Result: 2-4 verified candidates per role. No keyword-matched resumes. No noise.
Disciplines we staff for Semiconductor
Cross-Link to the Discipline Pages
FAQ
Semiconductor Staffing. Common Questions.
Does Game 7 Staffing place DFT engineers for tapeout programs?+
Yes. Game 7 Staffing specializes in placing DFT engineers and DFT Architects for semiconductor tapeout programs on a contract and contract-to-hire basis. Engineers placed by Game 7 in DFT roles have hands-on experience with scan insertion, ATPG (Synopsys TetraMAX, Siemens Tessent FastScan), scan compression (DFTMAX, TestKompress), MBIST/LBIST integration, and tapeout signoff. DFT Architects available for full-chip test strategy definition, hierarchical DFT planning, and test time optimization for large SoC programs.
Can Game 7 staff physical design engineers with experience at advanced process nodes?+
Yes. Game 7 Staffing places physical design engineers with experience at advanced process nodes including 7nm, 5nm, and 3nm. Physical design at these nodes involves FinFET/GAA device behavior, extreme routing congestion, multi-patterning rules (SADP, SAQP, EUV), and signal integrity challenges that do not exist at mature nodes. Game 7 screens every physical design candidate for specific process node history before submission. Engineers fluent in Synopsys IC Compiler II (ICC2) and Cadence Innovus are both available.
What verification methodologies does Game 7 screen for?+
Game 7 screens design verification engineers for UVM (Universal Verification Methodology) testbench architecture, constrained-random methodology, SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA), functional coverage closure, and regression infrastructure. Formal verification engineers with Synopsys VC Formal and Cadence JasperGold experience are also available. For SoC-level bring-up, Game 7 can source emulation engineers experienced with Synopsys ZeBu and Cadence Palladium platforms.
Let's talk
Tell Us What You're Building in Semiconductor
Send us the program. We'll send a shortlist of 2-4 verified engineers within days.