Emulation Engineer, Technical Leader

The application window is expected to close on: 04/30/2026

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

This is an onsite role and will require working out of the Milpitas/San Jose office location.
Meet The Team:
The Common Hardware Group (CHG) delivers the silicon, optics, and hardware platforms for Cisco's core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products. We design the networking hardware for Enterprises and Service Providers of various sizes, the Public Sector, and Non-Profit Organizations across the world. Cisco Silicon One (#CiscoSiliconOne) is the only unifying silicon architecture in the market that enables customers to deploy the best-of-breed silicon from Top of Rack (TOR) switches all the way through web scale data centers and across service providers, enterprise networks, and data centers with a fully unified routing and switching portfolio. Come join us and take part in shaping Cisco's ground-breaking solutions by designing, developing, and testing some of the most complex ASICs being developed in the industry.
You will work with Cisco’s best-in-class switching solution team. Our team is responsible for driving integration of the Nexus systems and ACI with software, including OpenStack, Docker, and Open vSwitch, to help our customers build multi-tenant clouds.
Your Impact:

• Develop innovative emulation environments that will be used to evaluate the performance and functionality of multi-terabit systems.

• Developing emulation infrastructure using C/C++ and TCL

• As a team member, work closely with the design, DV, power, and post-silicon diagnostic teams.

• Assist with test plan design, test implementation, and debugging during the pre-silicon emulation process.

• Develop tests to generate complex traffic, and performance scenarios to catch potential post-Silicon issues during the Pre-Silicon phase.

• Work with leading emulation vendors to solve issues.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in EE (Electrical & Electronics) or CE (Computer Engineering) with 8+ years of relevant experience.

• Prior emulation experience on platforms such as Palladium, Veloce, or Zebu as well as experience with compilation, debug, performance testing.

• Prior experience with RTL development for Emulation prototypes.

• Prior experience with C/C++ and TCL infrastructure development.

• Prior experience with System debug tools like gdb, waveform debuggers.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with scripting programs (e.g., Python, Perl or similar)

• Prior experience with UVM and System Verilog.

• Post Silicon functional validation or debugging experience is a plus.

• Experience with protocols e.g. PCie, I2C, Ethernet packet headers, Ethernet protocol is preferred.

Why Cisco? 

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. 

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you. 

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:The starting salary range posted for this position is $183,800.00 to $263,600.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks.  Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$183,800.00 - $303,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$163,600.00 - $269,800.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.