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This is a hybrid role that can be performed three days per week from our Ottawa office.

Acacia designs intelligent transceivers using advanced signal processing and photonic integration for the 100G, 400G and 1T bit speed fiber optic transmission market deployed in data center, metro, long-haul and ultra-long haul telecommunication networks.

Meet the Team

We are a Mixed-Signal IC design group that develops high speed (>25Gb/s), and high accuracy, analog designs for optical communications products. We optimize designs that will integrate into the ASIC. Our team interacts with other Acacia groups including TIA/DRV design, digital/DSP design, system design, package design, and module design.

Your Impact

• You will architect, design, layout, measure and productize ultra-deep sub-micron-based CMOS products.
• You will lead efforts for a large block on a complex chip, mentor team members and track deliverables, participate in peer review of complex IC designs and provide solid design methodology from conception to production.
• You will also collaborate with packaging and hardware design team to ensure signal and power integrity specifications are met.
• You will develop high speed AMS circuits and best-in-class products that push the boundaries of what is possible.

Minimum qualifications:

• BSEE degree with 12+ years of experience or equivalent or an MS degree with 8+ years of experience, or equivalent or a PhD with 5+ years of experience, or equivalent
• Design, simulation and measurement of high speed ICs in at least 3 areas below:

High-speed serial links utilizing serializers, de-serializers, and data converters, voltage regulators, output drivers, phase locked loops, clock transmission/propagation, opamps, programmable gain amplifiers, and equalization

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with high-speed data converters and/or high-speed serdes
• Experience with FinFET technology
• High-frequency layout experience a plus:
• Passive component design: inductors, transformers, transmission-lines, etc.
• Floorplanning (power/ground, digital/analog signal routing, etc.) experience
• Custom transistor layout experience
• Experience designing for manufacturability
• Experience with ESD laboratory practices and methodology
• Experience with Cadence (Virtuoso), Spectre/APS/SpectreX, Matlab, EMX
• Experience with mixed-signal simulations in AMS

Cisco may use AI Tools to review candidate-provided details—such as skills, experience, location, and education—to determine how closely candidates match job criteria. AI Tools are intended to guide and support the recruitment team in identifying and prioritizing candidates but are not used in isolation or without human judgment. For more information about Cisco’s use of AI please see the Job Candidate Privacy Statement found here.

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 $159,000.00 to $230,300.00 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:

$210,600.00 - $350,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$189,300.00 - $312,200.00

* 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.