Senior Analog/Mixed-Signal IC Design Engineer - Acacia (Hybrid)

Job Title

Senior Analog/Mixed-Signal IC Design Engineer - Acacia (Hybrid)

Role Summary

Senior analog/mixed-signal IC design engineer in the Acacia mixed-signal IC design group. Responsible for architecture, circuit design, layout, measurement, and productization of ultra-deep submicron CMOS analog and mixed-signal blocks for high-speed optical transceivers.

The team designs high-speed (≈25+ Gb/s) and high-accuracy analog circuitry and collaborates with digital/DSP, packaging, system, and module teams to integrate designs into production ASICs. This is a hybrid role with a three-day-per-week requirement at the San Jose, CA office.

Experience Level

Senior — expected senior-level experience. Typical experience guidance from the posting: PhD with ~5+ years, MS with ~8+ years, or BS with ~12+ years (equivalent practical experience acceptable).

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include leadership of complex analog/mixed-signal design blocks, hands-on circuit work, and cross-functional integration to move designs into production.

• Architect, design, layout, characterize and productize CMOS analog/mixed-signal ICs for optical transceivers.
• Lead design efforts for large, complex blocks; mentor junior engineers; track deliverables and participate in peer reviews.
• Develop and validate high-speed AMS circuits including serializers/deserializers, data converters, PLLs, regulators, drivers, opamps, PGAs, and equalizers.
• Collaborate with packaging, hardware, digital/DSP and system teams to meet signal and power integrity and system-level requirements.
• Perform measurement, bring-up, and verification of prototypes; iterate designs for performance and manufacturability.
• Support layout, floorplanning, and high-frequency layout practices to achieve target performance and yield.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience; preferred items listed separately.

• Proven experience designing, simulating, and measuring high-speed ICs across multiple domains (expect experience in at least three areas such as serial links, data converters, PLLs, regulators, drivers, opamps, PGAs, equalization, clock transmission/propagation).
• Hands-on mixed-signal circuit design and characterization for high-speed optical transceiver applications.
• Ability to lead large block designs, perform design reviews, and drive projects from concept to production.
• Strong experience with AMS simulation and verification methodologies.
• Excellent collaboration skills with cross-functional teams (package, board, system, digital).

Preferred:

• Experience with electrical transceiver applications (backplane and cable communications).
• Experience with FinFET process technologies and custom transistor layout.
• High-frequency layout and passive component design (inductors, transformers, transmission lines).
• Floorplanning experience for mixed-signal chips (power/ground, digital/analog routing).
• Design-for-manufacturability and ESD laboratory practices experience.
• Familiarity with Cadence Virtuoso, Spectre/APS/SpectreX, Matlab, EMX and mixed-signal AMS simulation flows.

Education Requirements

Posting specifies degree-based experience options: BSEE (Bachelor of Electrical Engineering) with ~12+ years, MS (Master's) with ~8+ years, or PhD with ~5+ years — or equivalent practical experience. Field of study referenced: Electrical Engineering (or equivalent technical degrees); equivalent experience accepted.

About the Company

Company: Cisco Systems

Headquarters: San Jose, CA, United States

Cisco Systems is a global technology company that designs and sells networking hardware, telecommunications equipment, software, and services. It provides enterprise and service-provider networking, security, collaboration, and optical communications solutions (including Acacia Communications technologies for high-speed optical interconnects).