Principal Design Engineer
Oct 1, 2026 Austin
About us
Cadence is a pivotal leader in computational software.
- Size: 10,000+ employees
- Industry: Technology: Manufacturing
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At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology.
Required Qualifications
Core Responsibilities
Verification Planning: Define the overall verification strategy, including the choice of methodology (typically UVM/SystemVerilog), tools, and infrastructure.
Testbench Architecture: Design scalable, reusable, and robust verification environments. This includes developing Bus Functional Models (BFMs), monitors, scoreboards, and checkers.
Feature Extraction: Analyze architectural specifications to identify critical features and corner cases that require rigorous testing.
Customer Interaction: Technically lead DV execution of small to mid-sized customer ASIC projects. Handle customer interactions. Convert high level customer requirements into DV execution plan.
Development: Write complex test cases and sequences to achieve high functional coverage.
Debug: Lead the root-cause analysis of complex design bugs, collaborating closely with design engineers to implement fixes.
Constraint Random Testing: Implement constrained-random stimulus generation to explore the design space beyond directed tests.
Formal Verification: Utilize formal tools to prove specific properties or find deep-seated bugs that simulation might miss.
Coverage Analysis: Monitor and analyze functional and code coverage metrics.
Gate-Level Simulation (GLS): Oversee simulations on the synthesized netlist to verify timing and reset behavior.
Sign-off: Define the "definition of done" and provide final technical approval for the verification phase.
Mentorship: Guiding junior engineers on coding standards and debugging techniques.
Cross-functional Collaboration: Acting as the primary technical point of contact between the design, architecture, and emulation teams.
Project Management: Managing timelines, identifying risks in the verification schedule, and prioritizing tasks to meet project deadlines.
We're doing work that matters. Help us solve what others can't.
Required Qualifications
- B.E./B.Tech or M.Tech/M.S. in Electronics, VLSI, or related field
- 8-10 years of hands-on DV experience in semiconductor/ASIC/SoC companies
- Deep expertise in SystemVerilog and UVM (Universal Verification Methodology)
- Strong understanding of digital design fundamentals - RTL, timing, clocking, resets
- Experience with industry-standard simulators: Xcelium, VCS, Questa
- Proficiency in coverage-driven verification - functional, code, and toggle coverage
- Hands-on experience with formal verification tools and flows
- Experience with bus protocols such as AXI, AHB, APB, PCIe, DDR, or similar
- Strong debug skills - waveform analysis (Verisium, SimVision)
- Familiarity with low-power verification (UPF/CPF) and gls/power-aware gls simulation
Core Responsibilities
- Strategy and Architecture
Verification Planning: Define the overall verification strategy, including the choice of methodology (typically UVM/SystemVerilog), tools, and infrastructure.
Testbench Architecture: Design scalable, reusable, and robust verification environments. This includes developing Bus Functional Models (BFMs), monitors, scoreboards, and checkers.
Feature Extraction: Analyze architectural specifications to identify critical features and corner cases that require rigorous testing.
- Execution and Technical Leadership
Customer Interaction: Technically lead DV execution of small to mid-sized customer ASIC projects. Handle customer interactions. Convert high level customer requirements into DV execution plan.
Development: Write complex test cases and sequences to achieve high functional coverage.
Debug: Lead the root-cause analysis of complex design bugs, collaborating closely with design engineers to implement fixes.
Constraint Random Testing: Implement constrained-random stimulus generation to explore the design space beyond directed tests.
Formal Verification: Utilize formal tools to prove specific properties or find deep-seated bugs that simulation might miss.
- Metric Management
Coverage Analysis: Monitor and analyze functional and code coverage metrics.
Gate-Level Simulation (GLS): Oversee simulations on the synthesized netlist to verify timing and reset behavior.
Sign-off: Define the "definition of done" and provide final technical approval for the verification phase.
- Soft Skills and Leadership
Mentorship: Guiding junior engineers on coding standards and debugging techniques.
Cross-functional Collaboration: Acting as the primary technical point of contact between the design, architecture, and emulation teams.
Project Management: Managing timelines, identifying risks in the verification schedule, and prioritizing tasks to meet project deadlines.
We're doing work that matters. Help us solve what others can't.
Additional Information
- Posted: Oct 1, 2026