Principal Hardware Engineer

Cisco Systems; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm is seeking a Thermal Engineer to lead innovative solutions in thermal design and cooling technologies. You will drive advancements in thermal management for electronic systems, engage with suppliers, and ensure compliance with industry standards. This role seeks highly experienced candidates ready to contribute to cutting-edge projects in a collaborative environment.

Benefits

Paid volunteer hours

Diverse employee resource organizations

Hybrid work opportunities

Qualifications

• 15+ years in design, simulation, and testing of thermal solutions.
• Extensive experience with advanced air-cooling technologies.
• Experience with liquid cooling and/or immersion cooling.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead the thermal technology roadmap with suppliers.
• Investigate innovative cooling solutions for hardware systems.
• Perform reliability analysis and validation for electronic systems.

Skills

Thermal Analysis

Thermal Design

Cooling Technologies

Data Acquisition

Education

BS in Mechanical/Thermal or Chemical Engineering

MS or PhD in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering

Job description

Application window expected to close 6/25/2025 Meet the Team

You will be part of the outstandingGSM-Component Quality & Technology team. The team is a key hub of technical innovation at Cisco, with a broad scope of influence. Members interact with Business Units, Product Operations, Manufacturing Operations, Planning and Fulfillment, Supplier Management, and directly with Suppliers. Additionally, the team participates in industry consortia, conferences, and collaborates with academia and other strategic partners. The organization focuses on evaluating and adopting new technologies to help Cisco leapfrog the competition with sophisticated algorithms and solutions to solve complex problems.

Your Impact

In this role, you will:

• Develop and lead the system thermal technology roadmap in partnership with microelectronics packaging suppliers, thermal interface material suppliers, cooling solution providers, and internal partners to meet Cisco products’ needs.
• Investigate innovative thermal cooling solutions for hardware systems on a large scale.
• Derive trade-offs in thermal performance of different package design elements and chip thermal gradients from experimental test data.
• Develop test plans and qualification requirements to ensure mechanical and manufacturing adaptability of thermal cooling solutions.
• Engage with external vendors, including ODM and component vendors, on design, test, and production.
• Develop and publish case studies/technical papers describing thermal analysis of cooling systems.
• Establish parameters for thermal design/testing and correlate design/test results to model predictions.
• Contribute to analytical and numerical models using Computational Fluid Dynamics tools to simulate and analyze different device-level cooling schemes.
• Drive supplier ecosystem development and participate in industry consortia, conferences, and collaborate with academia and other strategic partners to influence Cisco’s industry position.
• Integrate Circuit Thermal simulation and testing with system-level cooling technologies.
• Conduct mechanical design validation and testing for electronic assemblies.
• Coordinate Circuit Packaging technologies.
• Perform component and system reliability analysis.

Minimum Qualifications:

• BS in Mechanical/Thermal or Chemical Engineering.
• 15+ years of experience in the design, simulation, and testing of thermal solutions for electronic devices and systems.
• Extensive experience with advanced air-cooling technologies.
• Experience with liquid cooling and/or immersion cooling.
• Experience with troubleshooting and thermal validation with data acquisition systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MS or PhD in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering or related field.
• 20+ years of relevant proven experience in microelectronics thermal cooling.
• Experience with JEDEC JESD 51 thermal testing standards.
• Experience with Thermal Interface Material Thermal Conductivity Testing procedures.

#WeAreCisco

#WeAreCisco where every individual brings their unique skills and perspectives together to pursue our purpose of powering an inclusive future for all.

Our passion is connection—we celebrate our employees’ diverse set of backgrounds and focus on unlocking potential. Cisconians often experience one company, many careers where learning and development are encouraged and supported at every stage. Our technology, tools, and culture pioneered hybrid work trends, allowing all to not only give their best, but be their best.

We understand our outstanding opportunity to bring communities together and at the heart of that is our people. One-third of Cisconians collaborate in our 30 employee resource organizations, called Inclusive Communities, to connect, foster belonging, learn to be informed allies, and make a difference. Dedicated paid time off to volunteer—80 hours each year—allows us to give back to causes we are passionate about, and nearly 86% do!

Our purpose, driven by our people, is what makes us the worldwide leader in technology that powers the internet. Helping our customers reimagine their applications, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals is what we do best. We ensure that every step we take is a step towards a more inclusive future for all. Take your next step and be you, with us!