AE Group Director
Taken at the midpoint of its range, $225,000/yr, this role pays more than the middle Sales Leadership opening on the board today ($198k/yr); the usual band for that kind of seat is $150k–$400k/yr.
The posting
At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology.
At Cadence, we hire and develop innovators and leaders who want to make an impact on the world of technology.
We offer amazing opportunities to grow, no matter where you are in your career. The ideal candidate will be energetic, innovative and enthusiastic about how to help customers solve their toughest verification problems using Cadence technology. Join our elite application engineering team for verification to work closely with the best AEs, PEs and R&D in EDA at a company listed in Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work as one of the World's Best Workplaces™ year after year!
As an integral member of the North America Verification Field Applications Engineering (AE) Team, you will work directly with industry leading semiconductor and system companies to deploy Cadence’s market leading emulation and FPGA prototyping platforms, Palladium and Protium. In this customer facing role you will provide the front line technical support in the pre and post-sales process and will work with account teams to come up with innovative solutions to address our customers’ most challenging problems in emulation and prototyping. You will own customer success!
In this role, you will lead and drive a team of application engineers for customer specific emulation and prototyping requirements, including advanced acceleration component development, methodology support, and operation and maintenance of Cadence’s emulation and prototyping tools and services. You will lead a team to support technical evaluations and benchmark development for Cadence’s market leading tools such as Palladium emulation platform and Protium prototyping platforms. You will be responsible for interaction with customer management and R&D management .
At Cadence, customers are at the heart of everything we do. Talented engineers like you are what enable us to materialize this passion into results. By working directly with Cadence R&D and driving customer engagements, you will enhance your in-depth knowledge in verification tools, unlock unique expertise in verification methodologies, and level up your communication, customer, and sales skills. No matter where you are in your career, whether your next career step is to stay on the technical track, move up in management, or explore sales/marketing career opportunities, the skills and expertise you gain as an Application Engineer here at Cadence will put you miles ahead in your career advancement.
Minimum Experience
- MS degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science or related field
- At least 15+ years of ASIC design, verification & validation experience
The ideal candidate will
- Have a proven track with deployment of Advanced Verification Solutions
- Have deep technical knowledge in a few of; Simulation (Advanced Testbench),
Emulation (TBA & ICE) & FPGA Prototyping
- Intimate knowledge of the SOC Architectures
- Champion the customer needs and work with R&D & marketing to develop
competitive and creative technical solutions to win campaigns
- Understand the competitive landscape and be a key contributor to product
roadmap enabling differentiated next generation products
- Possess excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills
The annual salary range for California is $157,500 to $292,500. 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.
Taken from Cadence's own posting, last seen live on 2 Nov 2026.
About Cadence
Electronic design automation software, Palladium and Protium emulation hardware, design IP, custom silicon services and engineering simulation (mechanical CAE, CFD, molecular modeling), sold to chipmakers, systems companies, automakers and drug discovery teams.
Pay schedule: Cadence pays a base salary with incentive compensation (an OTE plan for sales roles, bonus for others) and equity eligibility, with a 401(k) match and an employee stock purchase plan in the US and private medical cover, a group pension and 25 days of holiday in the UK.
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