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Meet The Team

Acacia Communications, a leader in disruptive optical and coherent technology, is looking for a mixed-signal IC Design Engineer. The candidate will be a key member in a small, dynamic IC Design team that develops millimeter-wave circuits for Acacia’s silicon photonics-based optical transponders. The candidate will architect, design, layout, measure and productize silicon-based transmitters and receivers, operating up to 400-Gb/s/lane, and beyond.

Your Impact

• Work with the digital, mixed-signal, hardware, and PIC teams to co-architect electro-optic TX and RX IC solutions to meet transponder-level specifications
• Schematic-design, layout and laboratory-characterization of mm-wave ICs with emphasis on novel biasing techniques, integrated power delivery, and built-in self-test.
• Set and track IC macro-development, internal-DVT, qualification and production-test schedules
• Work with contract manufacturers to manage qualification and high-volume production-testing of ICs

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors +15 years, Masters +12 years, PhD + 8 years of related experience.
• Experience in analog and mixed-signal biasing techniques in nanoscale CMOS (22FDX, 5nm finFET), with emphasis on BIST (built-in self test)
• Experience in power systems, Low-Dropout Regulator design, and high-speed control loops (1k-100MHz)

Design, simulation and measurement (at wafer-level) of control circuitry for the following types of macros, operating at or above 25-Gb/s:

• Linear amplifiers/drivers
• Transimpedance amplifiers
• AGC circuits
• Linear equalizers
• SERDES

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience Collaborating with team and working independently
• You have authored publications demonstrating innovation
• Experience with coherent optical communications links as well as electrical transceiver applications including backplane and cable communications
• Experience designing, measuring and integrating analog/mixed-signal transmitter/receiver IC or IP into a standalone packaged-component or a larger subsystem intended for high-volume production

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. Simply put – we power the future.

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.

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees have access to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter. Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.