Semiconductor Design Engineer Jobs in San Jose, CA
San Jose sits at the center of Silicon Valley, and its semiconductor payrolls show it. Cadence Design Systems runs its headquarters in the city, Broadcom keeps its US base here, and AMD, Western Digital, and a long list of fabless and IP shops staff design centers within a short drive.
Open roles cover the full stack. RTL designers write and lint Verilog for SoC blocks and hand off clean code to synthesis and DFT. Physical design engineers close timing and route in Cadence Innovus and Synopsys ICC2. Verification teams build UVM testbenches and chase coverage closure. Analog and mixed-signal groups handle PLLs, data converters, and SerDes.
Cadence's own San Jose campus is a bit different from the rest. On top of product engineering, it hires EDA software engineers who build the place-and-route and simulation tools that every other design team in the valley depends on.
The hiring is spread across a few large employers and many small ones. Broadcom staffs networking and storage controller ASIC teams. AMD runs CPU and GPU design groups. Cadence hires for both R&D and application engineering. Below them, IP vendors and startups look for engineers who can own a block from spec to signoff without much hand-holding.
Pay tracks the Bay Area cost of living, which is the main reason these numbers run high. Senior design engineers commonly land total compensation in the $200K to $300K range once base, annual bonus, and RSUs are added, and staff and principal roles go higher. The semiconductor salary guide breaks down ranges by discipline and level so you can sanity-check an offer.
If you want to widen the search past the city line, the nearby ASIC roles in Santa Clara draw from the same talent pool, and it is worth watching for physical design roles in San Jose as more of them open up.
Save a search on semidesignjobs.com and you will get an email when a San Jose role matching your filters is posted. You can also browse the full San Jose semiconductor design listings to see what is live today.
FAQ
What semiconductor companies are headquartered in San Jose
Cadence Design Systems, Broadcom's US headquarters, and Western Digital are all based in San Jose, along with a number of smaller fabless and IP companies. AMD and many others run major design centers in the city without headquartering there.
What semiconductor design disciplines are most in demand in San Jose
Physical design leads, driven by Broadcom and by Cadence's customer base. RTL design is close behind at Broadcom, AMD, and startups, and EDA software engineering is specific to Cadence's San Jose campus. Verification and analog design are also well represented.
Is San Jose a good city for semiconductor engineers with families
The school systems are solid and the outdoor access is good, but the cost of living is the trade-off you have to plan around. Most San Jose semiconductor employers pay compensation packages built to offset Bay Area housing costs.