Principal Product Engineer - Custom Layout & Virtuoso Applications
Cadence · Edinburgh, United Kingdom · 2mo ago
At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology.
Cadence is a pivotal leader in electronic design, building upon more than 30 years of computational software expertise. The company applies its underlying Intelligent System Design strategy to deliver software, hardware and IP that turn design concepts into reality.
Cadence customers are the world's most innovative companies, delivering extraordinary electronic products from chips to boards to systems for the most dynamic market applications including consumer, hyperscale computing, 5G communications, automotive, aerospace, industrial and health.
At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology.
Job Title: Principal Product Engineer - Custom Layout & Virtuoso Applications
Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Reports to: Product Engineering Group Director
Job Overview:
The Principal Product Engineer - Custom Layout & Virtuoso Applications plays a central role in bridging Cadence's world-class electronic design tools with the needs of our most strategic customers. Working at the intersection of customer success, R&D, and product development, this role shapes how customers adopt and succeed with the Virtuoso platform for custom analog and FinFet-based design.
The successful candidate will drive both technical depth and cross-functional collaboration - translating real-world customer challenges into product improvements that benefit the broader Cadence ecosystem.
Job Responsibilities:
- Engage directly with customers to understand their custom analog design and layout requirements - with particular focus on FinFet-based flows within the Virtuoso platform - and translate those needs into actionable product guidance.
- Attend and contribute to technical review meetings (at Cadence offices and customer sites), delivering presentations and providing expert commentary on product capabilities and roadmap alignment.
- Conduct regular on-site customer visits to deliver education and enablement sessions on the Virtuoso cockpit, debug tool-related issues in context, and capture structured feedback for R&D - filing Change Correction Requests (CCRs) where required.
- Develop and deliver demonstrations and Rapid Adoption Kits (RAKs) that enable the sales team to effectively position Virtuoso products - including delivering training sessions directly to sales and pre-sales teams.
- Build SKILL-based utilities to address specific customer requirements not covered by standard Virtuoso functionality, including defining and executing validation plans before customer delivery.
- Use the Virtuoso platform to create test schematics and layouts, validate newly implemented features, and provide structured feedback to R&D - driving necessary changes through to resolution.
- Author Product Requirement Specifications (PRS) to formalise customer-driven R&D priorities, working within cross-functional teams (CFTs) to achieve alignment across engineering, product, and commercial stakeholders.
- Partner with the Product Validation (PV) team to ensure rigorous validation of customer flows, contributing flow tests for regression testing and quality assurance.
- Collaborate with Technical Publications to ensure documentation is accurate, accessible, and highlights features of strategic relevance to customers.
- Work with marketing to inform tool positioning and licensing strategy based on direct customer feedback and field observations.
Job Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, or a related field - or equivalent professional experience.
- 5–8 years of experience in the electronic design automation (EDA) industry or a closely related technical field.
- Demonstrated experience in custom analog layout, including a strong understanding of the challenges specific to analog layout workflows.
- Hands-on experience with the Virtuoso Layout Suite for connectivity-driven layout.
- Familiarity with the SKILL programming language, with the ability to write functional utilities independently.
Additional Skills/Preferences:
- Experience with FinFet layout techniques and multi-patterning methodologies.
- Experience with the Virtuoso Analog Design Environment (ADE).
- Knowledge of Innovus and Open-Access frameworks.
- Proficiency in scripting languages such as TCL or Perl.
- Experience working in a customer-facing or field applications engineering role.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical content to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Additional Information:
This role sits within Cadence's Product Engineering organisation and works at the confluence of R&D, sales, and customer success. Key internal stakeholders include R&D teams, Product Validation, Technical Publications, and Marketing. Externally, you will engage regularly with some of Cadence's most technically sophisticated customers across the semiconductor and systems design space.
Primary tools and platforms include Virtuoso Layout Suite, Virtuoso ADE, the SKILL programming language, and internal Cadence product lifecycle and defect tracking systems.
Check what we can offer you:
- Competitive salary
- 25 days holiday per year
- Private Medical and Dental plans, Income Protection and Life Insurance
- Group Personal Pension Plan
- Cycle to work scheme and gym subsidy
- 5 days paid time to volunteer to give back to our communities
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- The opportunity to work for a Great Place to Work© & Fortune 100 organization
Cadence is committed to equal employment opportunity and employment equity throughout all levels of the organization. We strive to attract a qualified and diverse candidate pool and encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Travel: Occasional travel to customer sites and Cadence offices is expected (estimated <10% of time). Most travel will be domestic, with some international travel possible depending on customer base.