Principal Engineer, Front-End Computer-Aided Design Software

Position Overview

The Microsoft Silicon Engineering and Solutions Team is seeking a software engineer to serve as a technical leader within the central software team. This team develops state-of-the-art converged solutions, software tools, and automation to support silicon design areas—including RTL (Register Transfer Level), VIP (Verification Intellectual Property) design, design verification, validation, DFT, emulation, PD handoff, and IP integration. We are looking for a Principal Engineer, Front-End Computer-Aided Design Software to join our team!

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We embrace a growth mindset, collaborate to achieve shared goals, and commit to our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create an inclusive culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Be a leader in a central CAD Software team that develops a common tool stack for internal SoC and IP designs.
• Lead software best practices within the CAD Software team.
• Collaborate closely with the CAD Hardware and Compute infrastructure teams.
• Design software solutions and documentation that scale to a large user base.
• Act as a specialist in your domain and partner with the execution team.
• Work with stakeholders across Microsoft Silicon groups to collect software requirements.
• Develop, enhance, and integrate CAD flows and automation for organization-wide use.
• Embody the company culture and values.

Required Qualifications

• Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field AND 3+ years technical engineering experience, OR Master’s Degree with 6+ years experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with 8+ years experience, OR equivalent experience.
• 3 years of advanced experience with common programming paradigms, including Object-Oriented and Functional programming.
• 3 years of leadership experience with a proven track record of leading small teams and influencing stakeholders.
• 3 years of experience writing software using industry-standard languages such as Python, TCL, Perl, and C/C++ (Python preferred).
• 3 years of experience defining software architecture for complex systems.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements — including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 5+ years technical engineering experience, OR Master’s Degree with 8+ years experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with 12+ years experience, OR equivalent experience.
• 1+ year(s) of experience working on or leading projects from beginning to end.
• 5 years of experience in software development.
• Understanding of software design patterns.
• Familiarity with silicon design tools, flows, and methodologies.
• Experience with continuous integration systems.
• Expertise in computer architecture, and CPU/SoC design principles.
• Expertise in Azure environments, Azure Security, and DevOps concepts.
• Ability to own, maintain, and drive complex software projects independently.
• Expertise in software development best practices.
• Exposure to design and verification execution flows and infrastructure.

Compensation

• Silicon Engineering IC5 – The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 per year. In the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

Benefits & Perks

• Certain roles may be eligible for additional benefits and other compensation.
• Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay