Principal Software Engineer

At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology.

Key Responsibilities

Automation Framework Ownership

• •Own, maintain, and enhance the end-to-end automation flow used to:
• •Compile neural networks using the XNNC compiler.
• •Run generated RTL binaries on Palladium Z3 emulation.
• •Drive Joules gate-level power analysis.

• •Develop and maintain the Python, CSH, and Bash scripts that integrate and orchestrate the flow.
• •Add support for new AI network configurations, hardware accelerator variants, reference builds, and EDA tool revisions.
• •Maintain current documentation, patches, reference configurations, and reproducible build instructions.
• •Identify, debug, and resolve automation, infrastructure, and tool-integration issues across the workflow.

Performance and Power Collateral Generation

• •Generate complete performance and power collateral for each neural network processed through XNNC.
• •Collect and summarize:
• •Cycle count, frames per second (FPS), and memory-bandwidth metrics from XTSC simulation.
• •End-to-end performance metrics from Palladium emulation.
• •Dynamic power estimates, including total and memory power, from Joules gate-level analysis.

• •Deliver results consistently across reference builds in standard formats, including cycle-count CSVs, power CSVs, and consolidated summary reports.
• •Validate result quality, consistency, and reproducibility before collateral is shared with stakeholders.

Team Enablement and Support

• •Serve as the primary internal point of contact for users of the COLLATERAL-AUTO project.
• •Onboard new users and provide guidance on running the XNNC, Palladium, and Joules workflow.
• •Debug user runs and triage issues related to environments, scripts, CAD/EDA tools, and flow configuration.
• •Review performance and power summaries for correctness, completeness, and consistency.
• •Improve team-wide productivity by creating reusable guidance, troubleshooting documentation, and reliable reference workflows.

Required Qualifications

Experience

• •10+ years of experience in various embedded software or general software development roles.
• •3+ years of experience with AI frameworks, AI network compilation, or related tooling.
• •Experience with one or more of: TensorFlow, PyTorch, ONNX, Apache TVM, or AI network compilers.

Technical Expertise

• •Strong Python scripting skills.
• •Proficiency with CSH and Bash shell scripting.
• •Working knowledge of JSON and automation-oriented configuration formats.
• •Understanding of hardware edge-AI accelerators, RTL execution flows, and performance analysis.
• •Familiarity with debugging complex software, toolchain, and multi-stage automation issues.

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Software Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• •Experience using AI-assisted development tools for rapid prototyping and effective technical prompting.
• •Experience with Cadence tools, including Palladium and Joules, or equivalent EDA/emulation/power-analysis workflows.
• •Familiarity with IP design platforms, RTL simulation or emulation, gate-level power analysis, and AI accelerator validation.
• •Strong written communication skills for producing technical documentation, runbooks, and performance/power reports.

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