Application Engineer, RTL2GDS Sr Director

Job Title

Application Engineer, RTL2GDS Sr Director

Role Summary

Senior technical leader on Cadence’s North America Field Applications Team responsible for strategic customer engagements and driving advanced EDA and Agentic-AI solutions for semiconductor design teams.

Align cross-functional teams (R&D, Product Engineering, field) to deliver implementation and signoff solutions at advanced nodes for major customers.

Experience Level

Senior — requires extensive leadership and technical experience; posting specifies 20+ years in IC design implementation and signoff.

Responsibilities

Lead customer-facing technical strategy and enablement for digital implementation and signoff workflows.

• Define and execute technical engagement strategies for top semiconductor customers.
• Act as trusted advisor to executive-level stakeholders to drive adoption of Cadence technologies and Agentic-AI features at advanced nodes (3nm and below).
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Application Engineers.
• Collaborate with R&D and Product Engineering to influence tool and flow enhancements from customer requirements.
• Drive benchmarks, flow optimizations, and deployment of methodologies for synthesis, place-and-route, STA, IR drop, and power/timing closure.
• Represent the company at industry forums, present technical materials, and publish technical content.
• Establish engagement best practices, resource planning, and technical escalation processes.

Requirements

Core qualifications and skills required for successful performance in this role.

• Must-have: 20+ years of experience in IC design implementation and signoff; proven success managing large-scale technical programs.
• Must-have: Deep expertise in digital design fundamentals and advanced-node implementation (3nm and below).
• Must-have: Proven track record of leading technical teams and driving customer success at executive levels.
• Must-have: Strong scripting and flow-customization skills (Tcl, Python, Perl) for design closure.
• Must-have: Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder-influence skills.
• Nice-to-have: Prior experience with Cadence tools such as Genus, Innovus, Tempus, Voltus, Conformal, Cerebrus or competitive solutions.

Education Requirements

BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

About the Company

Company: Cadence Design Systems

Headquarters: San Jose, California, USA

Cadence Design Systems is a global electronic design automation company that provides software, hardware, and intellectual property for designing advanced semiconductor chips. With over 25 years in the industry, Cadence is known for its innovative technology solutions and has been recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. The company is dedicated to solving complex technical challenges in order to enable customers to create revolutionary products and experiences.