Principal Engineer - Cambridge, United Kingdom
Originally posted 4 August 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role involves defining the architecture, driving transistor-level design, and enabling system-level integration of ultra-low-power integrated circuits (ICs) for Robotics, Industrial IoT (IIoT) and XR applications. The position focuses on bridging high-performance Analog Front Ends (AFEs) with digital logic and firmware.
What you'll do
- Define and support end-to-end system architecture, including partitioning across analog, digital, firmware, and system domains.
- Drive architectural trade-offs across power, performance, noise, latency, and silicon area.
- Lead feasibility studies and transistor-level design of mixed-signal building blocks including ADCs, DACs, PLLs/DLLs, LDOs, and SerDes.
- Architect and integrate ultra-low-power AFEs optimized for battery-operated IIoT, XR, and Robotics sensor ASICs.
- Develop behavioral and system-level models using MATLAB/Simulink (or equivalent tools) to evaluate noise, linearity, and SNR.
- Perform comprehensive pre-silicon verification across PVT corners using industry-standard simulators and support post-silicon bring-up, characterization, and reliability qualification, including HTOL and burn-in.
What you'll need
- Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (or related field) with 10-12 years of post-degree industrial IC/system design experience OR M.S. in Electrical Engineering (or related field) with 13-15 years of industrial IC/system design experience.
- Expertise in low-power analog and mixed-signal (AMS) IC design.
- Hands-on experience with Cadence Virtuoso, AMS sims, verilog, and related analog design tools.
- Proficiency with Spectre, HSPICE, and board-level simulation methodologies.
- Solid understanding of PDKs, LVS, DRC, and PEX flows.
- Proven experience with ESD and reliability standards (HBM, CDM, TLP).
Nice to have
- Experience with digital design flows, including synthesis and timing analysis.
- Familiarity with firmware development and software integration.
- Good knowledge of embedded interfaces such as I2C, I3C, SPI, I3S, and MIPI.
- Proficiency in Python/Matlab and/or similar scripting languages.
- Experience with deep submicron CMOS technologies and low-power fabrication processes.
- Exposure to IC packaging, board-level validation, and system bring-up.
- Background in sensor systems, sensor fusion, or edge AI applications.
Skills: mixed-signal IC design, system architecture, ADCs, DACs, PLLs/DLLs, SerDes
This role has been open 53 days — well below the 92-day median for Mixed-Signal Design roles.
Mixed-Signal Design · Mixed Signal
|
Open roles in category
153
|
Median days open
92 d
|
Median salary
$178k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (153 roles · 42 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 8 | 153 |
| Open roles in the wider Analog & Mixed-Signal family | 75 | 1385 · 107 employers |
| Median days open | 57 d | 92 d (−35 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $178k |
Skills observed across this category: mixed-signal IC design, system architecture, ADCs, DACs, PLLs/DLLs, SerDes
Who's hiring in this category
- Analog Devices · 24 open roles · median 77 d
- Infineon Technologies · 14 open roles · median 80 d
- NVIDIA · 11 open roles · median 53 d
- SiTime · 11 open roles · median 189 d
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 8 open roles · median 57 d
- Broadcom · 7 open roles · median 41 d
How we counted: 153 open Mixed-Signal Design (Mixed Signal) roles from 42 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 30 Sept 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Analog & Mixed-Signal family row. Figures refresh nightly.