Sr Principal Application Engineer

SAN JOSE Until 9/8/2026 12+ years exp First posted June 25, 2026 Last posted July 10, 2026
Job description

At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology.


Job Description

Key Responsibilities

Hands-on work with Cadence customers in the areas of Backend Digital Design Implementation and Signoff including Synthesis, Place and Route, Design Closure, and timing/power signoff, RTL to GDSII.

Lead technical campaigns and strategies in the RTL to GDSII digital implementation space. 

Aggressively push Power, Performance, and Area (PPA) 

Deliver technical presentations and lead discussions internally and with customers. 

Work closely with R&D to enhance the tools and methodologies to meet and exceed customer’s requirements with high quality.

Support execution on critical customer flagship product tape outs.

Amend and augment the flow as needed using Tcl and/or other programming skills to meet objectives and improve results/flows.

Job Requirements

Minimum

MS degree Computer Science/Engineering, Electrical, Engineering, or related field, plus 12+ years industry experience.

Strong knowledge in Digital Design Fundamentals, Semiconductor fundamentals, and Static Timing Analysis is required.

Prior experience with IC digital implementation flows and backend EDA tools including Synthesis, Place and Route, IR Drop, backend design timing and power closure, RTL to GDSII.

Experience in scripting in Perl/Tcl/Python to automate and implement process improvement is a must.

Floor planning and power planning for System-on-Chip (SoC) designs with low power

MS degree Computer Science/Engineering, Electrical, Engineering, or related field, plus 12+ years industry experience.

Prior experience with IC digital implementation flows and front-end EDA tools including Synthesis, DFT, and Logical Equivalence Checking

Good hands-on experience of Floorplanning, Place and Route, Timing analysis and Sign-off, preferable with CDNS tools suite

Advanced clock tree synthesis techniques including SoC Clock Distribution, Clock Mesh, H-Tree

Multiple design closure including Timing, DRC, LVS, and EMIR preferred.

Experience with advanced technology nodes including Sub 5nm and below.

Develop, debug, and optimize various aspects of design flows for SoC’s to achieve best Power, Performance and Area (PPA)

Strong customer-facing communication and problem-solving skills

Strong personal drive for continuous learning and expanding professional skillsets.

Strong verbal, written, and customer communication skills.

Prior experience with Cadence tools such as Genus, Innovus, Conformal, Tempus, Modus, and/or Voltus is highly desired.

The annual salary range for California is $143,500 to $266,500. You may also be eligible to receive incentive compensation: bonus, equity, and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the salary range is a guideline and compensation may vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies and work location. Our benefits programs include: paid vacation and paid holidays, 401(k) plan with employer match, employee stock purchase plan, a variety of medical, dental and vision plan options, and more.

We’re doing work that matters. Help us solve what others can’t.

About this role

Summary

Lead digital implementation, optimize PPA, automate flows, support tape outs, customer support

Job title

Sr Principal Application Engineer

Experience level

12+ years

Minimum experience

12+ years exp

Industry

software

Location requirements

SAN JOSE, on-site; remote uncertain

Salary

$144k–$267k

Management role

No

Skills & keywords

Required skills

digital design fundamentalsSynthesisPlace and Routestatic timing analysisPerlTclPython

Preferred skills

cadence toolsGenusInnovusConformalTempusModusVoltusadvanced technology nodes

Specializations

digital designIC implementationEDA toolsRTL to GDSIIpower optimization
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

San Jose, CA, USA

On-site City