ASIC Design Engineering Technical Leader

Location: San Jose, California, US

Remote Type: Onsite Only

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

The application window is expected to close on: 06/12/2026

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 at least 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.

Your Impact

• Drive the architecture and micro-architecture of high-performance ASIC subsystems for next-generation data center silicon.

• Influence system architecture and key design decisions across complex SoC subsystems.

• Work on some of the most challenging problems in high-performance silicon for hyperscale infrastructure.

• Design and implement high-frequency, high-performance RTL in Verilog / System Verilog, meeting aggressive timing, power, and area targets.

• Lead design specifications and technical reviews, ensuring architectural clarity and high-quality implementation.

• Drive technical execution across architecture, design, verification, and physical implementation teams to deliver robust silicon.

• Collaborate closely with verification and physical design teams to close functional coverage, timing, and integration challenges.

• Mentor engineers and elevate engineering rigor, design quality, and technical execution across the team.

• Lead debug and root-cause analysis across simulation, system bring-up, and post-silicon validation.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Computer engineering and 8+ years of ASIC experience, or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering and 6+ years of ASIC experience, or PhD in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering + 3 years of ASIC experience.

• Experience in high-performance RTL design using Verilog/SystemVerilog.

• Experience with timing closure, power optimization, and clock gating techniques.

• Experience with ASIC development flows including simulation, synthesis, and static timing analysis.

• Strong debug, problem-solving, and cross-team collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Understanding of data center networking and storage architectures, including RDMA and NVMe-over-TCP.

• Experience with ARM-based SoC architectures and protocols such as AXI, CHI, APB, and AHB, and ARM IP including CMN, GIC, and SMMU.

• Design experience with high-speed interfaces and controllers including PCIe, Ethernet MAC, DDR/LPDDR, and DMA engines.

• Experience integrating third-party IP into complex SoC environments.

• Proficiency in engineering automation and scripting (Python, Perl, TCL, shell).

• Experience with emulation, prototyping, or formal verification tools.

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.

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:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $183,800.00 to $263,600.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks.  Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. 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 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$183,800.00 - $303,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$163,600.00 - $269,800.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.