Distributed Systems Engineer

Cadence Design Systems; Burnaby; On-site; CAD 89,600 - 166,400; Full time

Job summary

Cadence Design Systems in Burnaby, BC is seeking a motivated distributed systems engineer to help build scalable data processing infrastructure for massive circuit designs across distributed computing resources.

You will work on data pipelines, job orchestration, fault-tolerant scheduling, and observability, collaborating with teams to deliver production-grade infrastructure for chip design.

Qualifications

• 3+ years experience building distributed systems with Python.
• Experience with distributed computing frameworks (Dask, Spark, Ray, or Celery).
• Understanding of data locality, fault tolerance in distributed systems.
• Experience with high-performance data formats (HDF5, Parquet, Arrow).
• Familiarity with Python/C++ interop (pybind11, nanobind).
• Strong Python production code experience.
• Comfortable with large codebases and collaboration.
• Software engineering best practices (testing, code reviews).

Responsibilities

• Build data pipelines and manage I/O for large-scale netlists and simulations.
• Develop high-performance I/O for multi-TB circuit databases.
• Create Python/C++ interop layers for serialization/deserialization.
• Design streaming interfaces for distributed solver results.
• Implement distributed task distribution with fault-tolerant scheduling.
• Develop resource management and load balancing across clusters.
• Build monitoring and observability for distributed workflows.
• Optimize task granularity and dependency management.

Skills

Distributed Systems

Python

Distributed computing frameworks

Data Engineering

Python/C++ interop

Software Engineering

Code collaboration

Tools

Dask

Spark

Ray

Celery

pybind11

nanobind

Job description

At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology.

About the Role

We're building a next-generation distributed transistor-level electromigration and IR drop analysis tool. Our team has strong expertise in numerical solvers and circuit simulation algorithms. We're looking for a motivated distributed systems engineer to help build the scalable data processing infrastructure for handling massive circuit designs across distributed computing resources.

What You'll Build

• Data Pipeline & I/O Management
• Build ingestion pipelines for large-scale netlists and simulation data
• Implement high-performance I/O for multi-TB circuit databases
• Develop serialization/deserialization layers bridging Python and C++ components
• Design streaming interfaces for distributed solver results
• Job Orchestration & Workflow
• Implement task distribution with fault-tolerant scheduling for long-running simulations
• Develop resource management and load balancing across compute clusters
• Build monitoring and observability for distributed workflows
• Optimize task granularity and dependency management

Required Expertise

• Distributed Systems 3+ years building distributed systems with Python
• Experience with distributed computing frameworks (Dask, Spark, Ray, or Celery)
• Understanding of distributed computing patterns, data locality, and fault tolerance
• Data Engineering Experience with high-performance data formats (HDF5, Parquet, Arrow, or similar columnar formats)
• Familiarity with data partitioning strategies and streaming patterns
• Some exposure to Python/C++ interop (pybind11, nanobind)
• Software Engineering Strong Python programming skills with production code experience
• Comfortable working in large codebases and collaborative development environments
• Understanding of software engineering best practices (testing, code review)

Nice to Have

• Background in EDA, VLSI, semiconductor design, or computational engineering
• Experience with scientific/engineering data visualization
• HPC experience with job schedulers (Slurm, PBS, LSF)
• GPU acceleration knowledge
• Familiarity with modern tools (Go, Plotly, Bokeh, Holoviews, Datashader)
• Open-source distributed computing contributions
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)

Why Join Us

We bring strong expertise in numerical methods and circuit analysis algorithms, well-defined solver interfaces, and a clear technical vision. You'll work alongside experienced engineers building greenfield distributed infrastructure with modern tools. This is an opportunity to grow your expertise in production-scale distributed systems while solving challenging problems in chip design.

What You'll Learn

• Production distributed systems architecture and patterns
• Large-scale data pipeline design and optimization
• Performance engineering for multi-TB datasets
• Building reliable, observable infrastructure
• Working with domain experts in circuit simulation and numerical methods

Ideal Candidate

You're eager to deepen your distributed systems expertise and excited about data pipeline architecture. You have foundational experience with Python distributed computing and want to tackle production-scale challenges. You're comfortable learning new technologies, asking questions, and collaborating with both systems and domain experts. You value clean code, observability, and user experience alongside performance. No circuit simulation expertise needed. We need your enthusiasm for building scalable, reliable infrastructure and your willingness to grow into a distributed systems expert.

Cadence plays a critical role in creating the technologies that modern life depends on. We are a global electronic design automation company, providing software, hardware, and intellectual property to design advanced semiconductor chips that enable our customers create revolutionary products and experiences. Thanks to the outstanding caliber of the Cadence team and the empowering culture that we have cultivated for over 25 years, Cadence continues to be recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Our shared passion for solving the world’s toughest technical challenges, our dedication to pushing the limits of the industry, and our drive to do meaningful work differentiates the people of Cadence.

Position Location

This is a full-time, on-site position based in Burnaby (Greater Vancouver Area) Canada. In-office attendance is required. The annual salary range for British Columbia is 89,600 CAD to 166,400 CAD. You may also be eligible to receive incentive compensation: bonus, equity, and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the salary range is a guideline and compensation may vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies and work location.

Benefits

• paid vacation and holidays
• leave of absence programs
• Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)
• Tax Free Savings (TFSA) plan for post-tax investment savings
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• group health coverage that includes dental, vision and Emotional Wellbeing Support (EAP) benefits for you and your eligible dependents
• employee and dependent Life insurance
• short-term and long-term disability
• Global Travel Medical coverage
• Business Travel Accident Insurance
• funded Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA)

Equal Opportunity

Cadence is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, basis of disability, or any other protected class.