ASIC DFT Emulation Technical Lead

Cisco Systems; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems in San Jose, CA is seeking an ASIC DFT - Emulation Technical Lead to architect state‑of‑the‑art emulation environments and drive pre‑silicon testing for the Silicon One family.

You will collaborate with front‑end RTL, physical design, and ATPG teams to troubleshoot issues, validate MBIST, JTAG, and scan architectures, and ensure high‑quality post‑silicon pattern conversion for next‑generation hardware platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher with related experience in ASIC emulation.
• Experience with Palladium, Veloce or Zebu emulation platforms and with compilation/debug.
• Strong Verilog and SystemVerilog knowledge.
• Proficiency in C/C++ and scripting (Tcl, Python or Perl).

Responsibilities

• Architect state‑of‑the‑art emulation environments and lead pre‑silicon test plan execution.
• Validate complex scan, MBIST and JTAG architectures on common platforms.
• Troubleshoot critical issues and ensure high‑quality post‑silicon pattern conversion.
• Collaborate closely with RTL, physical design and ATPG teams.

Skills

C/C++ programming

Scripting (Python/Perl/Tcl)

Verilog/SystemVerilog

Emulation experience

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Tools

Palladium

Veloce

Zebu

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 12/14/2026

Meet The Team

The Common Hardware Group (CHG) delivers the silicon, optics, and hardware platforms for Cisco's core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products. We design the networking hardware for Enterprises and Service Providers of various sizes, the Public Sector, and Non-Profit Organizations across the world. Cisco Silicon One (#CiscoSiliconOne) is the only unifying silicon architecture in the market that enables customers to deploy the best‑of‑breed silicon from Top of Rack (TOR) switches all the way through web scale data centers and across service provider, enterprise networks, and data centers with a fully unified routing and switching portfolio. Come join us and take part in shaping Cisco's ground‑breaking solutions by designing, developing and testing some of the most complex ASICs being developed in the industry.

Your Impact

As an ASIC DFT - Emulation Technical Lead, you will play a critical role in driving the DFT emulation strategy for Silicon One. You’ll architect state‑of‑the‑art emulation environments, lead pre‑silicon test plan execution, and validate complex scan, MBIST, and JTAG architectures on platforms like Palladium, Veloce, or Zebu. Partnering closely with front‑end RTL, physical design, and ATPG teams, you will troubleshoot critical issues and ensure high-quality post‑silicon pattern conversion. Your technical leadership and cross‑functional collaboration will guarantee seamless silicon bring‑up and optimal test coverage across next‑generation hardware platforms.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or Masters + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience

• Prior emulation experience on platforms such as Palladium, Veloce, or Zebu as well as experience with compilation and debug.

• Prior experience with Verilog and System Verilog.

• Prior experience with C/C++ and scripting skills with Tcl or Python/Perl.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience defining DFT Emulation strategy.

• Prior experience with JTAG protocol, scan architecture, MBIST and boundary scan.

• UVM and advanced System Verilog knowledge.

• Post Silicon validation and/or debugging experience.

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.