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# Principal Software Engineer - Accelerated Verification IP

- **Company:** Cadence, Inc.
- **Location:** San Jose, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $154,000.0 - $286,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** C++ (Programming Language), Profiling, Communications Protocols, Software Debugging, Logic Synthesis of Circuits, Emulators, Ethernet, Hardware Description Language, PCI Express, SystemVerilog, Verilog, Data Logging, Network Switches, State Machines, Nvme
- **Published:** September 3, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.themuse.com/jobs/cadence/senior-principal-software-engineer-accelerated-verification-ip

## About the Role

* BS with a minimum of 10 years of experience OR MS with a minimum of 7 years of experience OR PhD with a minimum of 5 years of experience
 * Strong fundamentals in digital design, computer architecture, and system-level verification
 * Experience with hardware description languages (SystemVerilog/Verilog) and/or C/C++
 * Understanding of standard interconnect or IO protocols (e.g., PCIe, CXL, NVMe)
 * Familiarity with emulation, acceleration, or hybrid verification flows is a strong plus
 * Good debugging skills using waveforms, logs, and protocol analyzers
 * Ability to work across hardware and software boundaries

## Description

* High-performance transactor and BFM development
 * Hardware-software co-simulation and emulation flows
 * Debug, logging, performance profiling, and compliance features
 * Customer enablement, escalations, and interoperability validation

The team supports a broad portfolio of industry-standard protocols, such as PCIe, CXL, Ethernet, USB, UCIe, and emerging interconnects, and works closely with emulation platform teams, controller/PHY teams, and customers.

This role will contribute directly to the development and enhancement of PCIe/CXL AVIP and/or PCIe/CXL Virtual Bridge products, focusing on protocol functionality, performance, and robustness. Depending on the specific protocol area, the work may involve:

 * Implementing PCIe protocol features and state machines
 * Enhancing performance and scalability on emulation platforms
 * Developing debug, trace, and analysis capabilities
 * Supporting system-level and software-driven use cases via PCIe Virtual Bridge
 * Working with customers and field teams to resolve issues and deliver solutions related to PCIe and CXL, In this role, the engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining PCIe/CXL AVIP/VB components as part of a larger protocol solution. The role is hands-on and spans feature development, validation, and customer readiness., * Designing and implementing protocol functionality in PCIe AVIP and/or Virtual Bridge components
 * Developing and debugging BFMs, transactors, and associated software interfaces
 * Ensuring correctness, performance, and scalability in emulation and acceleration flows
 * Collaborating with cross-functional teams
 * Participating in feature bring-up, regression, and release activities
 * Supporting customer issues, reproducing problems, and delivering fixes


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