Distinguished Hardware Engineer

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 285,000 - 391,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Distinguished Engineer to act as a technical visionary, guiding architecture and the development of advanced ASIC/SoC platforms.

You will lead DTCO initiatives, influence EDA toolchains, and drive cross-functional strategic decisions impacting AI-ready hardware, silicon platforms, and system performance. You will partner with senior leaders across Architecture, Physical Design, Packaging, and Silicon Operations to ensure scalable, manufacturable solutions while

Qualifications

• 17+ years of advanced ASIC/SoC silicon design and physical implementation experience (or Masters + 14 years, or PhD + 10 years).
• Experience with Fellow/ Distinguished Engineer or Chief Architect level leadership with multi-generation tapeout successes on cutting-edge process nodes (sub-5nm, 3nm, 2nm, or GAA).
• DTCO experience and transistor/device physics interactions; standard cell library & memory/SRAM optimization for extreme-scale ASICs.
• Hands-on and architectural design across full-chip physical design flows (synthesis, Place & Route with tools, timing and power analysis).
• Experience with 2.5D/3D heterogeneous packaging architectures, power integrity and thermal envelope management.
• Leadership with major foundries and EDA vendors, driving PDK enhancements and tool roadmaps.
• Ability to distill complex semiconductor physics into actionable technical strategy for executives.

Responsibilities

• Drive long-term technical vision and roadmap for next-generation semiconductor nodes and Angstrom technologies.
• Lead Technology pathfinding and architecture governance to evaluate futuristic capabilities and risks.
• Champion DTCO methods to optimize Performance, Power, Area and Cost.
• Bridge device physics, architecture, and physical design to maximize system efficiency.
• Architect 2.5D/3D heterogeneous packaging strategies with power and thermal management.
• Influence EDA ecosystem and foundry collaborations to accelerate development cycles.
• Collaborate with executives across Architecture, Physical Design, Packaging, and Silicon Operations.

Skills

Technical leadership

DTCO

Process knowledge

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer/Microelectronics or related field

Master's degree in related field

PhD in Electrical Engineering/Microelectronics

Tools

Innovus

Fusion Compiler

PrimeTime

Tempus

RedHawk

Voltus

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/05/2026

Meet the Team

The Common Hardware Group (CHG) 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—like Silicon One—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

As a Distinguished Engineer, you will serve as a technical visionary and advisor to Cisco’s engineering business and senior management. You will lead and influence key industry boards, councils, and standards bodies, define and drive the adoption of next-generation technologies, and guide the development of new products and processes. Your expertise will have a broad impact across Cisco’s product portfolio, shaping strategy, research, open-source efforts, and intellectual property development.

• Drive the long-term technical vision and roadmap for next-generation semiconductor nodes and emerging Angstrom technologies.
• Strategic Planning: Lead Technology pathfinding and process-design interactions to evaluate futuristic capabilities and quantify technical risks.
• Risk Management: Drive strategic technology selection and architectural governance under uncertainty to ensure long-tern product viability.
• Bridge the gap between device physics, architecture, and physical implementation to maximize system efficiency.
• DTCO Leadership: Pioneer Design-Technology Co-Optimization (DTCO) methodologies to acheive breakthrough gains in Performance, Power, Area, and Cost (PPAC).
• Advanced Packaging: Architect next Generation 2.5D/3D heterogeneous integration strategies, resolving complex thermal, power, delivery, and signal integrity challenges for large sale AI and networking systems.
• Influence the external semiconductor and EDA ecosystem to accelerate Cisco's development cycles.
• EDA Partnership: Collaborate with top-tier EDA vendors to influence tool architecture and co-develop next generation physical design flows for extreme-scale ASICs.
• Foundry Interlock: Serve as a Primary technical authority in engagements with leading foundries and IP suppliers to steer PDK definitions and silicon rule decks.
• Flow Convergence: Drive the convergence of custom and automated Place and Route (P&R) flows to close the performance gap in semi-custom digital architectures.
• Balance aggressive technical targets with business realities and cultivate engineering excellence.
• TCO Governance: Provide holistic governance balancing microarchitectural performance against manufacturability, yield and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
• Technical Mentorship: evaluate the global Silicon One engineering organization by mentoring principal engineers and technical leads to foster a culture of innovation.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with senior leadership across Architecture, Physical Design, Package and Silicon Operations, as well as external industry standards bodies.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Microelectronics, Materials Science, or related technical field + 17 years of advanced ASIC/SoC silicon design and physical implementation experience or Masters + 14 years of related experience, or PhD + 10 years of related experience.
• Experience with technical leadership at the Fellow, Distinguished Engineer, or Chief Architect level, with multi-generation tapeout successes on cutting-edge process nodes (sub-5nm, 3nm, 2nm, or GAA architectures).
• Experience in Design-Technology Co-Optimization (DTCO), transistor/device physics interactions, standard cell library architecture, and standard memory/SRAM optimization for extreme-scale ASICs.
• Experience with hands-on and architectural design across full-chip physical design flows, including synthesis, automated Place & Route (Innovus / Fusion Compiler), static timing analysis (PrimeTime / Tempus), clock tree/mesh synthesis, and power/IR-drop analysis (RedHawk / Voltus).
• Experience defining or implementing advanced 2.5D (interposer/UCIe/D2D) and 3D heterogeneous packaging architectures, including power integrity and thermal envelope management.
• Technical leadership experience with major semiconductor foundries (e.g., TSMC, IFS, Samsung) and tier-1 EDA software vendors, driving PDK enhancements and tool capability roadmaps.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Solid-State Physics, or Microelectronics with extensive industry recognition, including published papers in leading technical conferences (IEDM, VLSI, DAC, ISSCC) and an extensive patent portfolio in silicon design and semiconductor methodology.
• Direct experience architecting baseline process-design interactions and foundational design methodologies for industry-defining process nodes (e.g., 14A, 10A, A14, sub-2nm Angstrom nodes).
• Demonstrated track record of innovating and deploying automated P&R flows on high-performance custom/semi-custom architectures to bridge the performance gap between full-custom and standard ASIC design.
• Demonstrated ability to make pivotal silicon architectural decisions with incomplete early data (e.g., evaluating and committing to Gate-All-Around / RibbonFET architectures 2-3 years ahead of silicon fab runs).
• Experience evaluating engineering choices against Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), silicon manufacturability, yield economics, and system-level platform constraints.
• Prior experience guiding engineering leaders through significant technical and product challenges.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with proven ability to distill complex semiconductor physics and architectural trade-offs into actionable technical strategy for executive stakeholders.

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 $284,700.00 to $390,900.00 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: $284,700.00 - $449,500.00
• Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $272,000.00 - $398,000.00
• * 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.