Principal Software Engineer (Geometry)

Job Title

Principal Software Engineer (Geometry)

Role Summary

Senior individual contributor responsible for technical leadership and delivery of advanced geometry capabilities used in CAE preprocessing, model preparation, defeaturing, cleanup, healing, interoperability, and downstream simulation workflows for MSC Apex.

Partner with product, architecture, QA, and engineering teams to design and deliver robust, scalable geometry solutions that meet customer and product requirements.

Experience Level

Senior / Principal level. The role expects extensive experience; the posting requests 13+ years of software engineering experience.

Responsibilities

Deliver and lead technical work across geometry and CAE preprocessing domains.

• Architect, design, and implement advanced geometry capabilities with focus on robustness, scalability, performance, and maintainability.
• Lead technical design reviews, feasibility analysis, risk assessment, debugging, and performance optimization.
• Provide technical authority on geometry modeling, defeaturing, cleanup, healing, interoperability, topology handling, and CAE preprocessing workflows.
• Collaborate with product management, architecture, QA, and program management to translate workflows into technical solutions.
• Mentor engineers on algorithms, design patterns, code quality, testing strategy, and best engineering practices.
• Investigate and resolve complex geometry defects, interoperability issues, and performance bottlenecks.
• Contribute to technical roadmaps and communicate tradeoffs, risks, and implementation plans to stakeholders.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and domain experience.

• 13+ years delivering commercial or enterprise engineering software, preferably in CAD/CAE, geometry, or simulation domains.
• Deep expertise in computational geometry and topology, including intersection, projection, trimming, tolerance handling, curve/surface evaluation, spatial search, and proximity calculations.
• Strong C++ proficiency for high-performance geometry, CAD, CAE, or scientific computing applications.
• Hands-on experience with B-rep topology, geometry kernels, defeaturing, cleanup, healing, and topology repair workflows.
• Experience with CAD/CAE data formats and interoperability (STEP, IGES, Parasolid, ACIS, Open Cascade, or equivalent).
• Experience designing geometry APIs, reusable components, and scalable data structures for large assemblies and complex models.
• Proven debugging and diagnostic skills for numerical precision and robustness issues; experience optimizing for performance and memory.
• Familiarity with automated testing strategies for geometry algorithms (regression, tolerance-based validation, stress cases).
• Working knowledge of CAE workflows: model preparation, meshing handoff, solver readiness, and simulation preprocessing.
• Experience mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction without direct people-management responsibility.
• Familiarity with scripting/automation and build/debug/profiling tools; Python experience preferred.
• Practical experience with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot) is a plus.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Computational Geometry, Computer-Aided Design, Computer-Aided Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.

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.