ASIC Design & Development Director

Title: Director, ASIC Design & Development, AFE

Date: November 2026

Work Location: In-Office 5x/week in San Diego

Salary Range: $225k - $275k

Position Summary

Synchron is seeking a Director of ASIC Design & Development to lead the strategy and development of ultra-low-power, low-noise analog/mixed-signal ASICs for next-generation implantable neural interface technologies.

This player-coach role owns Synchron's ASIC program end to end: setting the ASIC roadmap, building and leading an internal team. The Director must retain enough hands-on design depth to develop and evaluate circuits, resolve difficult technical issues, and make final engineering decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership and Strategy

• Define and own the ASIC technology strategy and multi-generation roadmap.
• Build, lead, and develop an internal ASIC design and verification team.
• Own ASIC program schedules, budgets, resource plans, and tape-out milestones.
• Serve as Synchron's senior ASIC technical authority and report status and risks to executive leadership.
• Partner with systems, electrical, firmware, quality, regulatory, and clinical leaders to align ASICs with product needs.

ASIC Design and Technical Oversight

• Own ASIC architecture and analog/digital partitioning for implantable neural recording systems.
• Translate system-level objectives into detailed ASIC requirements.
• Perform hands-on circuit design and simulation as needed; review and approve transistor-level designs.
• Guide AFE design, including LNAs, PGAs, filters, ADCs, bias circuits, and power management, with a focus on noise, power, and channel count.
• Chair design reviews and determine readiness at key milestones, including tape-out.

Partner Management and Silicon Validation

• Select and manage external ASIC design partners, foundries, and packaging and test vendors, including SOWs, budgets, and contracts.
• Hold partners accountable for technical quality, schedule, and cost.
• Define verification and characterization strategies; lead first-silicon bring-up and debug.
• Establish manufacturing test, production screening, and reliability strategies.

Quality and Design Controls

• Own ASIC requirements, specifications, verification plans, and traceability.
• Ensure design controls, risk analysis, and documentation meet medical device and quality system requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics, or a related field.
• 15+ years of analog/mixed-signal ASIC design and development experience.
• 5+ years leading engineering teams, including direct people management.
• Multiple successful ASIC programs from architecture through tape-out and silicon validation.
• Hands-on analog/mixed-signal IC design experience, including AFE architectures, ADCs, and noise analysis.
• Proficiency with Cadence Virtuoso, Spectre, SPICE, or equivalent tools.
• Experience managing external ASIC design houses or semiconductor vendors.
• Strong leadership and communication skills, including with executive stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Experience building an ASIC team or capability from an early stage.
• Ultra-low-power design for implantable or wearable medical devices.
• Familiarity with neural recording, biopotential acquisition, or brain-computer interfaces.
• Experience with multi-channel AFE architectures (12–32 channels) and electrode interfaces.
• Experience in FDA-regulated or ISO 13485 environments.