Software Engineer II

What You'll Do

• Implement AI agent features that leverage LLMs for tasks such as code interpretation, code completion and code generation within the Stratus HLS environment.
• Build and test agentic pipelines that connect Stratus tools and APIs to deliver context-aware guidance to users.
• Apply prompt engineering techniques and contribute to retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines to improve the accuracy and relevance of AI responses.
• Author and maintain Skills, including slash commands for AI coding agents such as Claude Code and openCode, encoding Stratus domain knowledge into reusable workflows.
• Design Skills that orchestrate multi-step agentic flows, combining tool calls, context retrieval and structured prompts to automate complex Stratus operations reliably and repeatably.
• Evaluate emerging LLM models and frameworks, including Claude, GPT-4 and open-source alternatives, and prototype their application to HLS workflows.
• Instrument AI agent behaviour and contribute to quality metrics that track accuracy, latency and user experience.
• Write, review and maintain clean, well-tested C++ code within the Stratus codebase, following established engineering standards and design patterns.
• Read feature specifications and translate them into implementation plans, data structures and modular software designs.
• Develop VS Code extension components in TypeScript/JavaScript that surface AI agent capabilities directly in the engineer’s IDE.
• Write unit and integration tests, submit code through the Stratus regression system, and resolve failures to ensure every commit meets quality standards before release.
• Participate in code reviews, giving and receiving constructive feedback to strengthen both the codebase and personal development.
• Participate in technical design reviews, contributing ideas and asking questions that sharpen the team’s understanding of problems.
• Collaborate with senior engineers and domain experts to understand HLS workflows and apply that knowledge to well-engineered solutions.
• Stay current with LLM and AI agent research, prototype new techniques and share findings with the engineering team.
• Write clear engineering documentation, including design notes, API documentation and inline comments, so code decisions are understandable and maintainable over time.
• Job Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a closely related field with 2+ years of relevant industry experience; or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a closely related field with 1+ year of relevant industry experience.
• Solid programming skills in C++ or another compiled, statically typed language, with an understanding of memory management, performance trade-offs and code organisation.
• Proficiency in Python, including scripting for data processing, automation or ML workflows.
• Experience working with LLM APIs, AI agent frameworks or machine learning tools through academic projects, internships or industry experience.
• Strong understanding of data structures, algorithms and fundamental software design principles such as modularity, separation of concerns and testability.
• Ability to read specifications and break them into well-structured implementation tasks with clear interfaces and testable units.
• Enthusiastic and motivated, with a genuine interest in writing good software and learning how complex systems work.
• Collaborative team player who communicates clearly, accepts feedback constructively and asks for help when needed.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment where both requirements and underlying technologies evolve frequently.
• Additional Skills/Preferences: Experience writing Skills or slash commands for AI coding agents, such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, openCode or other prompt-driven automation frameworks.
• Familiarity with VS Code extension development or other IDE plugin frameworks, including Language Server Protocol and Debug Adapter Protocol.
• Exposure to Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, High Level Synthesis (HLS) or hardware design workflows.
• Experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vector databases such as Chroma, Pinecone or Weaviate, or embedding pipelines.
• Exposure to fine-tuning or instruction-tuning LLMs on domain-specific datasets.
• Familiarity with Tcl scripting or scripted automation.
• Basic understanding of cloud ML inference infrastructure, including AWS, GCP or Azure.
• Open-source contributions to AI/ML or developer tooling projects.
• Additional Information: The Stratus software engineering team is a collaborative group of engineers responsible for core HLS functionality, verification flows and increasingly AI-powered user experiences.
• The team places a strong emphasis on engineering craft, including readable code, thorough testing and well-considered design.
• New engineers benefit from close mentorship and regular pairing with senior team members.
• Senior software engineers who provide mentorship and code review.
• HLS algorithm and compiler engineers who provide domain expertise.
• QA and release engineering teams who own the regression infrastructure.
• A broader Cadence AI platform team sharing LLM infrastructure and tooling across product lines.
• Primary languages: C++, Tcl, Python AI/ML frameworks: GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, openCode IDE tooling: VS Code Extension API, Language Server Protocol Version control: SVN, Git, Perforce Build & CI: Internal Cadence regression and release systems Documentation: Confluence, internal wiki Check what we can offer you: Competitive salary 25 days holiday per year Private Medical and Dental plans, Income Protection and Life Insurance Group Personal Pension Plan Cycle to work scheme and gym subsidy 5 days paid time to volunteer to give back to our communities Employee Stock Purchase Plan The opportunity to work for a Great Place to Work© & Fortune 100 organization Cadence is committed to equal employment opportunity and employment equity throughout all levels of the organization.
• We strive to attract a qualified and diverse candidate pool and encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
• Travel: 10% We’re doing work that matters.
• Help us solve what others can’t.