Director of Design Enablement

Gateway Recruiting; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Gateway Recruiting seeks an experienced semiconductor Design Enablement leader to build and lead a global organization responsible for CAD infrastructure, EDA methodologies, PDK development, licensing management, and automation. You will drive roadmaps across CAD/EDA, AI-driven productivity, and design environments supporting advanced technologies.

The role requires 15+ years in design enablement and 10+ years leading global teams, with strong vendor management and executive collaboration.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in design enablement across CAD/EDA/PDK
• 10+ years of global engineering leadership
• Fluent in English (written and spoken)
• Proven track record leading worldwide CAD/methodology/infrastructure teams
• Experience managing multi-million-dollar EDA budgets and licensing

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the global Design Enablement strategy across the organization.
• Lead deployment, qualification, and optimization of enterprise EDA environments.
• Own compute infrastructure and license servers/deployment frameworks.
• Drive standardization of design methodologies across sites and units.
• Lead development and maintenance of internal and foundry PDKs and automation frameworks.
• Foster AI-driven productivity and data analytics within engineering teams.
• Manage relationships with EDA vendors and licensing negotiations.
• Lead a worldwide CAD/EDA/PDK engineering team and mentor talent.

Skills

CAD infrastructure

EDA methodologies

Design enablement leadership

Global team leadership

Vendor management

Tools

Cadence

Synopsys

Siemens EDA

Ansys

Job description

We are seeking an experienced semiconductor leader to build and lead our global Design Enablement organization responsible for CAD infrastructure and design support, EDA methodologies, Process Design Kit (PDK) and design automation, licensing management, and engineering productivity initiatives. This role will provide strategic and technical leadership across all phases of design enablement, from technology onboarding through production tape-out support. The position will lead worldwide teams supporting analog, mixed-signal, power, BCD, high-voltage, and emerging semiconductor technologies. The role combines deep hands-on expertise, organizational leadership, vendor management, and business acumen.

This individual will drive roadmap development for CAD, EDA, smart design methodologies, and PDK automation while optimizing engineering productivity.

Design Enablement Strategy & Leadership:

• Define and execute the corporate Design Enablement strategy across global engineering organizations.
• Develop long-term roadmaps for CAD, EDA methodologies, PDK automation, design infrastructure, and AI-driven engineering productivity.
• Establish best-in-class design environments supporting analog, mixed-signal, power, BCD, HV, and advanced process technologies.
• Partner with Design, Technology Development, and IT organizations to align infrastructure investments with business objectives.

EDA Methodology & CAD Infrastructure:

• Lead deployment, qualification, support, and optimization of enterprise EDA environments.
• Define and maintain design flows
• Own compute infrastructure and license servers/deployment frameworks
• Drive standardization of design methodologies across all sites and business units.

PDK Development & Automation:

• Lead development, customization, qualification, and maintenance of internal and foundry PDKs.
• Build automated frameworks and ensure successful enablement of new process technologies and foundry platforms.
• Collaborate closely with process teams and foundry partners.

Design Automation & AI:

• Lead development of automation solutions.
• Drive adoption of AI/ML and Generative AI technologies to improve engineering productivity and design quality.
• Develop data analytics and workflow automation platforms for engineering organizations.
• Create continuous integration and validation frameworks for design enablement.

EDA-Vendor & Licensing Management:

• Own strategic relationships with EDA vendors including Cadence, Synopsys, Siemens EDA, Ansys, and other ecosystem partners.
• Negotiate enterprise-wide licensing and technical support agreements/contracts
• Drive license optimization and utilization initiatives to maximize ROI.
• Serve as executive interface for vendor escalations and technology roadmap alignment.

Global Team Leadership:

• Lead a worldwide team of CAD, EDA, PDK, and automation engineers.
• Build a high-performance engineering organization across multiple regions.
• Develop technical talent, career paths, and succession plans.
• Manage internal resources, offshore teams, contractors, and consulting partners.
• Establish metrics and KPIs to measure support effectiveness, design productivity, and infrastructure utilization.

Qualifications and Experience:

• 15+ years of hands-on semiconductor design enablement experience in CAD, EDA, PDK, and design automation
• 10+ years of leadership experience managing global engineering organizations
• Proven track record leading worldwide CAD, methodology, infrastructure, or design enablement teams.
• Demonstrated success managing multi-million-dollar EDA budgets and licensing agreements.
• Required: Fluent in English (written and spoken)
• Mandarin a plus, but not required
• Recognized semiconductor design enablement leader who combines deep technical expertise in CAD, EDA, PDK development, and automation with strong business leadership skills.
• Successfully built and managed global organizations, negotiated complex EDA licensing agreements, and delivered productivity improvements through automation, infrastructure modernization, and methodology innovation.
• Comfortable working with executive leadership, foundry partners, EDA vendors, and hands-on engineering teams to accelerate innovation and enable future semiconductor technology platforms.