Principal CAE Design Engineer: Nastran Workflow Leader

Cadence Design Systems; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Cadence Design Systems is seeking a Principal Design Engineer with deep CAE expertise to lead design of CAE workflows and solver integrations. You will guide Nastran-related design decisions, develop Python tools, and craft user-focused interactions using Figma and Visual Paradigm.

The role requires extensive experience across CAE pre/post-processing, workflow modeling, and cross-functional collaboration with product, architecture, development, and QA teams. Strong communication is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computational Engineering, CAE, or related engineering discipline.
• 12+ years of experience in Mechanical Engineering, CAE, simulation workflow design, solver integration, or related software domains.
• Expert-level understanding of Nastran solver workflows, including model setup, boundary conditions, loads, and results interpretation.
• Experience defining product use cases, workflow specifications, interaction models, and acceptance criteria for engineering software development teams.

Responsibilities

• Study CAE pre-processing and post-processing workflows and convert needs into design specifications.
• Define use cases, interactions, workflow states, validation expectations, and acceptance criteria for development and QA teams.
• Provide expert guidance on Nastran solver integration, input deck behavior, and results interpretation.
• Create workflow designs, wireframes, and process diagrams using Figma and Visual Paradigm.
• Collaborate with product management, architecture, development, QA, and solver experts to ensure feasible, usable designs.
• Design Python scripting interfaces, automation workflows, and custom Python tools to support CAE workflow validation.
• Communicate design rationale and tradeoffs clearly to stakeholders and development teams.

Skills

Strong communication

Problem-solving

Independent work

Time management

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

Figma

Visual Paradigm

Python scripting

Nastran

MSC Apex

Patran

Abaqus

ANSYS

HyperWorks

GitHub Copilot

Job description

Cadence Design Systems is seeking a Principal Design Engineer with deep CAE expertise to lead design of CAE workflows and solver integrations. You will guide Nastran-related design decisions, develop Python tools, and craft user-focused interactions using Figma and Visual Paradigm.

The role requires extensive experience across CAE pre/post-processing, workflow modeling, and cross-functional collaboration with product, architecture, development, and QA teams. Strong communication is essential.