Director - ASIC Engineering (Technical Planning and Engineering Execution)

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 251,000 - 363,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a strategic Chief of Staff for the ASIC Physical Design and CAD engineering organization within the Silicon One Group.

You will align execution, manage multi-million-dollar budgets, and coordinate with engineering heads, product management, and supply chain to drive tape-out schedules and silicon health metrics. Leading organizational excellence and culture initiatives, you will liaise with HR to plan hiring, skill-gap assessments, and cross-functional

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical subject area or equivalent practical work experience.
• 14+ years of professional experience in the semiconductor industry with an understanding of the end-to-end ASIC/SoC development lifecycle.
• Experience in TPM, Engineering Management, Business Operations, or Chief of Staff role within a hardware or semiconductor environment.
• Experience managing engineering operational budgets, headcount allocations, or EDA tool licensing portfolios.

Responsibilities

• Drive the operational cadence for the ASIC PD CAD organization, tracking program achievements and tape-out schedules.
• Lead headcount, budget, and EDA tool licensing planning cycles in partnership with Finance and Procurement.
• Synthesize technical updates into clear executive presentations and manage cross-functional relationships across teams and vendors.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/22/2026

Meet the Team

The Silicon One team creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products for organizations globally. Our innovations in silicon, optics, and hardware platforms are shaping the technology industry. We're a global team of creative experts, bringing our unique backgrounds and bold ideas to push boundaries and help each other grow. Because full product development—from design to qualification to production—is within our team, we’re able to think differently, experiment more, and work quickly. Join us to power the future of the digital world.

Your Impact

In this strategic leadership role, you will serve as the operational backbone and Chief of Staff for the ASIC Physical Design (PD) & CAD engineering organization within the Silicon One Group, partnering directly with engineering heads, technical leads, and multi-functional executives to align operational execution, multi-million-dollar resource investments, foundry relations, and team culture. You will provide operational governance, multi-functional bridge-building, and strategic leadership across three key pillars:

• Strategic Operations & Governance Drive the operational cadence (weekly, monthly, and quarterly business reviews) for the ASIC PD CAD organization. Rigorously track program achievements, tape-out schedules, and silicon health metrics. Lead the annual and long-range headcount, operating budget, and EDA tool licensing planning cycles in close partnership with Finance and Procurement. Analyze and optimize resource allocation across concurrent chip tape-outs, advanced process nodes, and next-generation technology exploration teams.
• Multi-functional Alignment & Communication Synthesize complex technical updates, timing closure bottlenecks, tape-out risks, and project statuses into clear, actionable presentations for executive leadership and board-level consumption. Serve as the primary point of contact and operational bridge between the ASIC engineering team and key internal partners, including Product Management, Supply Chain / Foundry Operations, Software/Firmware teams, and HR. Partner with engineering leads to manage operational relationships, delivery schedules, and landmark commitments with external IP vendors and leading commercial foundries (e.g., TSMC, Samsung, Intel Foundry Services).
• Organizational Excellence & Culture Collaborate with engineering managers and HR on strategic hiring plans, technical skill-gap assessments, retention strategies, and workforce globalization initiatives. Design and implement internal communications, All-Hands meetings, and technical engineering summits to foster a transparent, high-performing, and collaborative engineering culture. Lead high-priority, ambiguous initiatives on behalf of the engineering head, such as evaluating geographic site expansions or exploring next-generation methodology adoptions (e.g., EDA tools).

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical subject area or equivalent practical work experience.

14+ years of professional experience in the semiconductor industry with an understanding of the end-to-end ASIC/SoC development lifecycle (from architecture and RTL design to Physical Design, DFT, emulation, and Tape-out).

Experience in one or more of these areas Technical Program Management (TPM), Engineering Management, Business Operations, or Chief of Staff role within a hardware or semiconductor engineering environment.

Experience managing engineering operational budgets, headcount allocations, or EDA tool licensing portfolios.

Preferred Qualifications

Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Master’s/Ph.D. degree or equivalent experience in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

Strong financial acumen with a proven track record managing multi-million-dollar operational budgets, EDA vendor contract negotiations, and complex multi-project resource models.

Direct experience managing operational relationships, tape-out work, and commercial engagements with external semiconductor foundries (TSMC, Samsung, IFS) and third-party IP vendors.

Proven ability to translate granular technical data (e.g., timing closure bottlenecks, yield metrics) into strategic executive business summaries.

Proven ability to balance high-level organizational strategy with tactical problem solving to unblock operational bottlenecks.

High emotional intelligence (EQ) with the ability to influence without authority across matrixed global organizations, build deep trust with both engineers and executives, and handle sensitive business, financial, and personnel information with strict discretion and integrity.

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 $250,600.00 to $362,600.00 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: $250,600.00 - $416,900.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $241,400.00 - $371,000.00 * 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. Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.