Semiconductor Tape-Out Support (US)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Semiconductor Tape-Out Support

Key description

Our enthusiastic and diverse team collaborates with imec’s customers to make their projects become reality. Imec IC-link (https://www.imec-int.com/en/ic-link) helps customers design chips and bring them to the prototype and the mass production stage at top chip foundries. Imec is a qualified TSMC VCA partner and offers state-of-the-art prototype and volume fabrication services to fabless companies and system houses. Imec IC-link provides its customers specialized technical solutions for the design of chips, prototyping, and mass production.

Purpose of the job:

To act as the primary liaison between customers and chip manufacturing foundries, ensuring the successful tape-out of our customer’s custom-designed chips by providing technical guidance, quality assurance, and project management support. This role is crucial in facilitating the smooth transition of chip designs from concept to fabrication, particularly focusing on TSMC process nodes.

Typically reporting to:

The Semiconductor Tape-Out Support reports to the US Tape-Out Support Team Leader within the imec IC-link business unit. This role involves close collaboration with management and sales teams to align with imec’s strategic objectives.

Core relationships: 

Internal:

·       Engineering Team: Collaborate closely with design and support teams to ensure designs meet manufacturing standards.

·       Quality Team: Work with QA to verify the integrity and quality of our work.

·       Sales Team: Provide technical support and insights to assist the sales team in customer interactions and project proposals.

·       Project Management: Coordinate with project managers to track progress and ensure timely delivery of milestones.

External:

·       Customers: Engage with customers to understand their requirements, provide technical guidance, and support them throughout the chip design and manufacturing process.

·       Foundries: Maintain strong communication with foundry representatives to ensure alignment on technical specifications and fabrication requirements.

 Typical education/expertise required:

·       We are looking for candidates with understanding of semiconductor layout and processing.

·       Preference to have some scripting and programming-based capabilities.

·       Taking initiative, being client-oriented, being punctual, teamwork and drive.

·       You can adequately judge problem situations, recognize priorities and act accordingly in a flexible manner.

·       We expect that you are a strong communicator and can speak and write English fluently enough to support our international customers and suppliers.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Quality Assurance: Verify and guarantee the quality of chip designs based on documentation from manufacturing plants and knowledge gained from the team and past projects.
• Fabrication Preparation: Prepare chip designs for fabrication at foundries, assisting customers with final sign-off using advanced CAD software.
• Technical Guidance: Conduct technical discussions with customers to guide them through the sign-off process and provide necessary foundry information and documentation.
• Customer Support: Assist customers before, during, and after the chip design and manufacturing process, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience.
• Process & Task Streamlining: Scripting and process improvements to reduce errors, improve overall customer service, and improve coordination with other teams.
• Documentation: Maintain detailed records of customer interactions, project progress, and technical specifications to ensure transparency and accountability.

N.B. This job description is a general description of the job. The job is not strictly limited to the above tasks and responsibilities. Therefore the job description can’t be used to refuse tasks assigned by the manager.

The target level will be determined by the rewards team.