Principal CAE Post-Processing Architect

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

Job summary

Cadence Design Systems is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead CAE post-processing workstreams for MSC Apex and related workflows. You will architect and deliver scalable result import, case management, visualization, animation, reporting, and automated processing of large-scale engineering data.

The role combines hands-on development in C++, multi-platform debugging on Windows and Linux, and technical leadership across engineering, architecture, QA, and product teams to ensure robust,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Computational Engineering, CAE, Applied Mathematics, or related field.
• 12+ years of software engineering experience delivering commercial or enterprise engineering software, preferably in CAE or scientific computing.
• Deep expertise in CAE post-processing workflows: import, case management, contouring, XY plotting, animation, reporting, and interpretation.
• Deep understanding of CAE results data structures, load steps, time steps, modes, units, and metadata.
• Hands-on experience implementing contouring, XY plotting, animation, min/max extraction, reporting, and automated post-processing.
• Strong C++ background for large-scale engineering and visualization apps.
• Experience designing post-processing services, readers, data models, plotting frameworks, and report pipelines.
• Working knowledge of solver outputs, transient/frequency-domain results, and usability requirements.
• Experience with MSC Apex, Patran, Adams, Nastran, Marc, Abaqus, ANSYS, HyperWorks, ParaView, Tecplot.
• Experience optimizing post-processing for performance, memory, and interactive visualization.
• Experience with AI-assisted tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor) to improve productivity.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and develop CAE post-processing capabilities for engineering simulation products.
• Provide technical leadership for result readers, data models, plots, animations, and reporting.
• Serve as senior technical authority for design reviews, feasibility, risk, and architecture decisions.
• Collaborate with product, architecture, QA, and engineering teams to translate workflows into solutions.
• Guide engineers on post-processing architecture, data models, validation, and testing.
• Investigate complex interpretation issues, visualization defects, and performance bottlenecks.
• Contribute to roadmaps and communicate design tradeoffs and risks clearly.

Skills

C++ development

VTK

GPU/graphics optimization

Visualization workflows

Debugging

Large-scale software

Multi-platform development

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/Engineering

Related engineering discipline

Tools

Visual Studio

GDB

LLDB

Valgrind

Perf tools

Job description

Cadence Design Systems is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead CAE post-processing workstreams for MSC Apex and related workflows. You will architect and deliver scalable result import, case management, visualization, animation, reporting, and automated processing of large-scale engineering data.

The role combines hands-on development in C++, multi-platform debugging on Windows and Linux, and technical leadership across engineering, architecture, QA, and product teams to ensure robust,