Practice Director

Job Description

Practice Director

Job Summary

Lead and scale the organizations Design-for-Test (DFT/DFx) competency across all semiconductor engagements, including SoC Turnkey Programs, Managed Services, Outcome-Based Projects, and T&M engagements.

The role owns the overall DFT capability strategy, technical roadmap, resource pyramid, competency development, delivery excellence, customer confidence, and business growth while ensuring the organization remains competitive in advanced-node and next-generation semiconductor technologies

1. Capability Strategy & Organizational Leadership

• Define the long-term DFT/DFx capability vision aligned with business growth objectives.

• Build and manage a world-class DFT organization across geographies.

• Develop competency roadmaps covering:

• Scan

• ATPG

• MBIST

• LBIST

• IJTAG

• SSN

• Functional Safety

• DFX Validation

• Silicon Debug

• Yield Enhancement

• Advanced Packaging Test

• Chiplet Test Methodologies

• Establish Centers of Excellence (CoE) for emerging technologies.

• Drive annual capability investment plans.

2. Turnkey Program Governance

Serve as the DFT executive owner across multiple turnkey programs.

Responsibilities

• Participate in program qualification reviews.
• Support effort estimation and technical due diligence.
• Review DFT architecture and execution strategies.
• Govern delivery health across programs.
• Intervene in critical technical escalations.
• Drive milestone and sign-off reviews.
• Track delivery metrics across all turnkey programs.

Accountable For

• Tapeout success
• DFT quality
• Coverage achievement
• Program predictability
• Customer satisfaction

3. Technical Authority and Solution Leadership

• Act as the highest technical escalation point for DFT.
• Review complex SoC DFT architectures.
• Define reusable methodologies and best practices.
• Approve enterprise-wide DFT signoff guidelines.
• Drive adoption of new DFT technologies.
• Evaluate emerging EDA tools and methodologies.

Key Responsibilities

Typical Areas

• Advanced Scan Architectures
• Test Compression
• LBIST
• Safety Diagnostics
• Automotive DFT
• Chiplet Testing
• Heterogeneous Integration
• Silicon Lifecycle Management

4. Business Growth & Pre-Sales

Partner with sales, account, and practice leadership teams.

Responsibilities

• Participate in customer workshops and executive discussions.
• Support RFI/RFP responses.
• Create DFT service offerings.
• Build differentiated DFT value propositions.
• Develop turnkey execution models.

Ownership

• DFT revenue growth
• New logo opportunities
• Capability-led opportunities
• Account mining initiatives
• Managed services expansion

5. Workforce & Resource Management

Own competency health across all engagements.

Responsibilities

• Workforce planning.
• Demand forecasting.
• Bench management.
• Leadership pipeline creation.
• Skill inventory management.
• Strategic hiring.

Typical Talent Categories

• Architects
• SMEs
• Technical Leads
• Senior Engineers
• Freshers
• Contractors

Success Measures

• Billability
• Utilization
• Pyramid health
• Lead-to-engineer ratio
• Fulfillment efficiency

6. Competency Development & Training

Drive continuous skill development.

Establish Learning Programs For

• DFT Fundamentals
• Advanced ATPG
• MBIST Architecture
• Functional Safety
• Automotive DFT
• IJTAG
• Silicon Debug
• DFX Verification
• Post Silicon Validation

Skill Requirements

Leadership Expectations

• Develop future architects.
• Create certification frameworks.
• Establish mentoring programs.
• Drive technical communities and guilds.

7. Delivery Excellence & Quality

Define and institutionalize DFT delivery standards.

Create Frameworks For

• DFT Design Reviews
• DFT Architecture Reviews
• Signoff Checklists
• Metrics Dashboards
• Quality Gates
• Audit Mechanisms

Drive

• Reuse frameworks
• Automation
• Productivity improvements
• Coverage closure methodologies
• Root cause analysis

8. Customer & Executive Stakeholder Management

Interface directly with:

External

• Customer VP Engineering
• Design Directors
• SoC Architects
• Test Engineering Teams

Internal

• Practice Heads
• Delivery Heads
• Program Directors
• Capability Leaders
• Sales Leaders

Act as the face of the DFT organization for strategic accounts.

9. Innovation & Differentiation

Drive strategic investments in:

• AI-assisted DFT flows
• DFT automation
• Coverage analytics
• Silicon diagnosis automation
• Test cost optimization
• Digital engineering accelerators

Build reusable IPs and frameworks that improve project productivity and margins.

P&L and Business Accountability

The Capability Head should typically be responsible for:

• Competency Revenue
• Utilization
• Gross Margin Improvement
• Fulfillment Metrics
• Hiring Targets
• Training ROI
• Customer Satisfaction
• Delivery Quality
• Attrition Control
• Leadership Development

Other Requirements

Desired Experience

Education

• B.E./B.Tech/M.E./M.Tech in Electronics, VLSI, Microelectronics or equivalent.

Experience

• 18-25+ years in Semiconductor Design Services.
• 12+ years in DFT/DFx.
• Experience leading large global teams.
• Experience managing multiple SoC programs.
• Strong customer-facing leadership experience.
• Proven track record in turnkey execution.

Technical Expertise

Deep understanding of:

• Scan
• ATPG
• MBIST
• LBIST
• IJTAG
• Boundary Scan
• DFX Validation
• Functional Safety
• STA
• Physical Design Interfaces
• Silicon Bring-up
• Yield Improvement

Advanced node experience:

• 3nm/5nm/7nm/16nm/28nm

Apply now

Information at a Glance

Why HCLTech?

At HCLTech, youll supercharge your potential. Youll find your career. And youll find your spark. All at a place that knows that helping its customers stay on top starts by putting its people first.

HCLTech is a global technology company, home to more than 223,000 people across 60 countries, delivering industry-leading capabilities centered around digital, engineering, cloud and AI, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. We work with clients across all major verticals, providing industry solutions for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, and Public Services. Consolidated revenues as of 12 months ending June 2026 totaled $14.8 billion.