Sr. Principal Technical Quality Engineer

Cadence; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 130,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation & holidays

401(k) plan with employer match

Employee stock purchase plan

Medical, dental and vision plans

Job summary

Cadence seeks a Technical Quality Engineer as part of the Silicon Solutions Group to improve design and verification quality for semiconductor IP. You will collaborate with IP design, methodology, and CAD teams to drive root-cause analyses, QA/QC process definitions, and efficiency gains through agentic AI.

On-site in North American design centers (Austin or Cary), the role emphasizes maintaining ISO 9001 and ISO 26262 certifications, and participating in foundry quality programs with senior

Qualifications

• MSEE required; 7+ years experience in IC design, verification, or silicon quality.
• Hands-on defect management and analysis experience (RCA/5Why/8D a plus).
• Strong communication, quality mindset, proactivity and teamwork.

Responsibilities

• Participate in the global SSG Quality Team.
• Represent SSG Quality to customers and partners.
• Improve flows and procedures across the organization.
• Define and maintain quality procedures for multiple design teams.
• Improve QA efficiency with agentic AI implementations.
• Generate and communicate quality metrics.
• Perform root-cause analysis and drive corrective actions.
• Lead post-mortem reviews and present results.
• Support Failure Analysis reports and certify ISO 9001 and ISO 26262.
• Support participation in external foundry quality programs.

Skills

IC design

IC verification

Defect analysis

RCA/5Why/8D

Quality assurance

Communication

Teamwork

Education

MSEE

Job description

At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology. Work with the Cadence global silicon solutions teams who are designing semiconductor IP for the top electronic product companies in the world, in leading edge semiconductor processes, using the latest industry tools and methodologies. As a Technical Quality Engineer and member of the Silicon Solutions Group global quality team, you will collaborate with IP design teams, methodology teams, CAD teams, and engineering management, to ensure that we are constantly improving our processes and consistently delivering the highest quality product to our customers. You will be the quality champion for one or more design organizations within SSG and be responsible for analyzing design defects to determine root causes, defining design QA and release QC processes, and maximizing the efficiency of these processes through implementation of agentic AI systems. You will communicate key information to senior engineering management by summarizing and interpreting the quality metrics that measure the effectiveness of our quality systems. Finally, you will participate in quality certification activities for standards such as ISO 9001, and support foundry IP quality programs for leading foundries.

Location

• On-site in one of the North American design centers (Austin, Cary).

Requirements

• Education: MSEE
• Experience: 7+ years
• Hands‑on experience in one or more areas of analog or digital IC design or verification, or experience in silicon fabrication quality assurance/control.
• Experience in analog IC design is a plus.
• Experience in defect management and defect analysis processes such as RCA, 5Why, 8D is a plus.
• Strong communication skills, quality consciousness, proactivity, and sense of responsibility.
• Strong problem analysis and teamwork skills.

Responsibilities

• Actively participate on the global SSG Quality Team.
• Represent the SSG Quality Team to customers and partners.
• Work across the global organization to implement improvements to flows and procedures.
• Define and maintain quality procedures for multiple design teams.
• Improve effectiveness and efficiency of quality procedures through implementation of agentic AI systems.
• Generate, interpret, and communicate quality metrics.
• Perform Root‑Cause‑Analysis and identify Corrective Actions.
• Hold Post‑Mortem reviews and summarize and communicate results.
• Assist design teams in preparation of Failure Analysis reports.
• Maintain quality certifications such ISO 9001 and ISO 26262.
• Support participation in external semiconductor foundry quality programs.

The annual salary range for California is $154,000 to $286,000. You may also be eligible to receive incentive compensation: bonus, equity, and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the salary range is a guideline and compensation may vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies and work location. Our benefits programs include: paid vacation and paid holidays, 401(k) plan with employer match, employee stock purchase plan, a variety of medical, dental and vision plan options, and more.