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Lead Software Engineer, Robotics Simulation

Cadence Design Systems • EDA Software • Semiconductor IP & Chip Design Services • Equity • Doctoral Degree (PhD) • 1 day ago
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Salary
$119k – $221k per year
Location
In office (San Jose)
Seniority
Staff
Visa
H-1B filings in 12 months: 368 · for this role: 126 · green card filings: 176
Employment
Full-Time

Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 22, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 21, 2026. Cadence Design Systems scores B on the Alion truth index.

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Cadence Design Systems

Cadence Design Systems is an American software company founded in 1988 that supplies the electronic design automation tools engineers use to design and verify integrated circuits. Its products cover digital synthesis and place-and-route, custom and analogue design, circuit simulation with the Spectre and Virtuoso families, functional verification, and increasingly system-level analysis for packaging, thermal behaviour and computational fluid dynamics. Headquartered in San Jose and listed on Nasdaq, it also licenses design intellectual property such as processor and interface blocks, and competes primarily with Synopsys and Siemens EDA.
cadence.com • HQ: San Jose, United States • Semiconductor IP & Chip Design Services • EDA Software • 5000+ employees • Est. 1988
Tech stack of Cadence Design Systems
Backed by Sequoia Capital

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

We are seeking a Simulation Engineer to develop simulation technology for physical AI and robotics applications. In this role, you will develop simulation algorithms spanning many-body dynamics and finite element analysis, with a particular emphasis on contact algorithms, and validate their performance on robotics hardware. Working at the intersection of simulation and real-world deployment, you will connect numerical methods with practical robotics applications.

Key Responsibilities

  • Develop simulation algorithms for physical AI and robotics applications, including many-body dynamics and finite element analysis.
  • Develop and refine contact algorithms to model physical interactions in robotics scenarios.
  • Validate simulation algorithms on robotics hardware and use experimental results to guide improvements.
  • Evaluate simulation behavior against real-world deployment scenarios to identify and address differences between simulated and hardware results.
  • Apply control theory and controller optimization and tuning methods to support simulation and hardware validation, as applicable.

Required Qualifications

  • Degree in mechanical engineering, computer science, or a related discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

  • PhD in mechanical engineering, computer science, or a related discipline.
  • Expertise spanning both numerical methods or simulation and practical robotics deployment scenarios.
  • Experience with many-body dynamics, finite element analysis, and contact algorithms.
  • Experience validating simulation algorithms on robotics hardware.
  • Expertise in control theory and controller optimization and tuning.

The annual salary range for California is $119,000 to $221,000. 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.

We’re doing work that matters. Help us solve what others can’t.

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