Technical Design Lead Jobs
Technical Design Lead jobs are open across consumer electronics, automotive, software, and manufacturing, from mid-level to principal and director, with specializations in systems architecture, UX integration, and mechanical-electrical co-design. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.
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Showing 5 of 25+ Technical Design Lead jobs
Meet the Team:
The Silicon One team creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products for organizations globally. Our innovations in silicon, optics, and hardware platforms are shaping the technology industry. We're a global team of creative experts, bringing our unique backgrounds and bold ideas to push boundaries and help each other grow. Because full product development—from design to qualification to production—is within our team, we’re able to think differently, experiment more, and work quickly. Join us to power the future of the digital world.
Your Impact:
We are seeking a highly experienced designer to lead the architecture and design of complex CPU subsystems for our next-generation high-performance networking switch ASICs. You will use your expertise in all stages of ASIC development from specification and RTL design through post-silicon bring-up. You will collaborate closely with SDK, board-support package (BSP), and Network OS (NOS) software teams to define driver interfaces, register maps, and memory consistency models, while supporting early emulation and FPGA platforms.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s + 8 years of related experience, or Master’s + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience
- Prior experience with microarchitectural RISC-V, ARM or ARC processor ecosystems.
- Prior experience with on-chip interconnect fabrics (such as AXI, CHI, NoC).
- Prior experience with PCIe subsystems.
- Prior experience with ASIC/SoC design flow, including RTL development using SystemVerilog, pre-silicon verification, lint, CDC/RDC, synthesis/timing/constraints, implementation handoff, and post-silicon bring-up for SoC blocks.
- Prior experience in leading CPU/SoC subsystem architecture or design for high-performance networking or data-center SoCs
- Prior experience with Boot, Security, Root of Trust (RoT), secure boot chains, and debug/trace infrastructure (such as CoreSight, RISC-V Debug).
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 $186,900.00 to $267,700.00 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
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.
The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:
New York City Metro Area:
$186,900.00 - $307,800.00
Non-Metro New York state& Washington state:
$166,300.00 - $274,100.00
- 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.
Meet the Team:
The Silicon One team creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products for organizations globally. Our innovations in silicon, optics, and hardware platforms are shaping the technology industry. We're a global team of creative experts, bringing our unique backgrounds and bold ideas to push boundaries and help each other grow. Because full product development—from design to qualification to production—is within our team, we’re able to think differently, experiment more, and work quickly. Join us to power the future of the digital world.
Your Impact:
We are seeking a highly experienced designer to lead the architecture and design of complex CPU subsystems for our next-generation high-performance networking switch ASICs. You will use your expertise in all stages of ASIC development from specification and RTL design through post-silicon bring-up. You will collaborate closely with SDK, board-support package (BSP), and Network OS (NOS) software teams to define driver interfaces, register maps, and memory consistency models, while supporting early emulation and FPGA platforms.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s + 8 years of related experience, or Master’s + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience
- Prior experience with microarchitectural RISC-V, ARM or ARC processor ecosystems.
- Prior experience with on-chip interconnect fabrics (such as AXI, CHI, NoC).
- Prior experience with PCIe subsystems.
- Prior experience with ASIC/SoC design flow, including RTL development using SystemVerilog, pre-silicon verification, lint, CDC/RDC, synthesis/timing/constraints, implementation handoff, and post-silicon bring-up for SoC blocks.
- Prior experience in leading CPU/SoC subsystem architecture or design for high-performance networking or data-center SoCs
- Prior experience with Boot, Security, Root of Trust (RoT), secure boot chains, and debug/trace infrastructure (such as CoreSight, RISC-V Debug).
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 $186,900.00 to $267,700.00 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
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.
The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:
New York City Metro Area:
$186,900.00 - $307,800.00
Non-Metro New York state& Washington state:
$166,300.00 - $274,100.00
- 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.
Technical Design Lead Jobs by Experience Level
See All 25 Technical Design Lead Jobs
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Find Technical Design Lead JobsTechnical Design Lead Job Market
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Electronics & Hardware
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in technical design lead jobs.
- 5 or more years of experience in product or engineering design with lead responsibilities
- Proficiency in CAD or parametric modeling tools such as SolidWorks, CATIA, or NX
- Experience translating design requirements into manufacturable specifications and drawings
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams across engineering, product, and manufacturing
- Familiarity with DFM, DFA, or GD&T standards applied in production environments
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, industrial design, or a closely related field
Tips for Your Technical Design Lead Job Search
Tailor your portfolio to system-level thinking
Hiring managers for technical design lead roles want to see how you led a design from concept through production, not just polished renders. Include constraint trade-offs, cross-functional decisions, and outcomes, not just the final artifact.
Highlight cross-functional ownership on your resume
Technical design leads own work across engineering, product, and manufacturing. Your resume should name specific teams you partnered with and decisions you drove, rather than listing tools or design tasks in isolation.
Filter openings by design stage and industry vertical
A technical design lead role at a consumer hardware startup and one at a Tier 1 automotive supplier require very different backgrounds. Narrow your search by the stage of product development and the industry before applying, so your application directly mirrors the job's context.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists technical design lead openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Prepare a design critique for the technical interview
Many technical design lead interviews include a live review of a product or system you haven't seen before. Practice articulating structural weaknesses, manufacturability concerns, and interface trade-offs out loud, since panel members will push back on your reasoning in real time.
Negotiate scope alongside compensation
When you receive an offer, ask explicitly what design decisions you'll own versus which require committee sign-off. Scope of authority often varies more than base pay across companies at this level, and it directly determines whether you can do your best work.
Technical Design Lead Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most technical design leads?
The most active employers for technical design leads right now are Cisco, Rambus, and Booz Allen Hamilton, and the most openings are in California, Oregon, and Texas, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Demand tends to be strongest at companies with active hardware programs or multi-year product roadmaps.
How many technical design lead jobs are remote?
About 82% of technical design lead openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, though the share varies significantly by specialization. Roles focused on systems architecture, documentation, or software-adjacent design tend to offer more location flexibility, while positions requiring lab access, prototyping, or hands-on manufacturing oversight are almost always on-site.
How do you become a technical design lead?
Start by building deep expertise in a core design discipline, whether mechanical, electrical, industrial, or systems design, then actively seek out ownership of a full product or subsystem rather than individual deliverables. Develop fluency in adjacent engineering domains so you can make trade-off decisions across team boundaries. Build a portfolio that shows leadership through constraint, cross-functional influence, and shipped outcomes, not just design quality.
Can you get hired as a technical design lead without prior lead experience?
Some companies will hire a strong individual contributor into a lead role if you can demonstrate that you've informally owned cross-functional decisions, mentored junior designers, or driven a product from concept to release without a lead title. Focus your resume on the scope of ownership you held, name the teams you coordinated, and lead your portfolio case studies with the problem definition and trade-offs you resolved, not just the deliverable.
What does the technical design lead interview process look like?
Most processes include an initial screening call, a portfolio review where you walk through one or two projects in depth, and a technical panel that often includes a live design critique or whiteboard exercise. Later rounds typically bring in engineering, product, and manufacturing stakeholders who assess how well you communicate trade-offs and handle pushback. Some companies add a take-home design challenge focused on a real constraint they're working through.
Where can I find and apply to technical design lead jobs?
You can find and apply to technical design lead jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States in one place. Search for roles that fit your specialization and experience level, then apply directly to each listing that matches what you're looking for.
See All 25 Technical Design Lead Jobs
Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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