ASIC Engineering Technical Leader

  • Location:
    San Jose, California, US
  • Area of Interest
    Engineer - Hardware
  • Compensation Range
    191400 USD - 281400 USD
  • Job Type
    Professional
  • Technology Interest
    Networking
  • Job Id
    1451402
The application window is expected to close on: October 21, 2025
 
Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.  
 
This role requires being onsite in San Jose, CA 4+ days/week.

Meet the Team

Join the Cisco Silicon One team in developing a unified silicon architecture for web scale and service provider networks. Cisco’s silicon team provides a unique experience for ASIC engineers by combining the resources offered by a large multi-geography silicon organization and a large campus (with onsite gym, healthcare, and café, social interest groups, and philanthropy), with the startup culture and breadth of growth opportunities that working in a smaller ASIC team can provide. 

You will work with exceptional talent with vast ASIC design and development expertise. With Cisco being a systems company, you will also have an opportunity to work with other ASIC teams in the journey of taking it from concept to first customer shipments.
 
Your Impact

As a Design/CDC Engineer, you will specialize in clock domain crossing (CDC) analysis and closure, while also contributing to RTL design and microarchitecture development. You will ensure robust and reliable timing across multiple clock domains in complex chip designs, set up and optimize CDC analysis tools and methodologies, and collaborate closely with RTL designers and physical design teams.

Responsibilities include: 
  • Participate in and contribute to chip architecture definition and discussions.
  • Author design specifications and participate in micro-architecture specification reviews.
  • Implement Verilog RTL to meet timing and performance requirements.
  • Collaborate with the verification team to address design bugs and close code coverage.
  • Lead CDC analysis efforts by setting up and maintaining CDC verification and closure tools to identify and resolve clock domain crossing issues early in the design cycle.
  • Review and validate CDC-related synchronization schemes, clock domain definitions, and SDC constraints, and drive full-chip CDC closure efforts.
  • Mentor RTL design owners on CDC analysis techniques, microarchitecture implications, and tool usage to improve design robustness.
Minimum Qualifications:
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering with 12+ years of ASIC or related experience or Master’s Degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering with 8+ years of ASIC or related experience.
  • Experience with microarchitecture and RTL implementation.
  • Experience with digital design concepts (eg. clocking and async boundaries).
  • Experience with synthesis tools (eg. Synopsys DC/DCG/FC) and Verilog/System Verilog programming.
Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience in SDC constraint development. 
  • Experience with Spyglass CDC and glitch analysis.
  • Experience with STA tools such as PrimeTime/Tempus.
  • Experience with scripting languages such as Python, Perl, or TCL.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Simply put – we power the future.  
 
Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.   
 
We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.
Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees have access to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter.  Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

.75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

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