EDA License Management Specialist (IT Engineering)

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

34d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced EDA License Management Specialist to join our Engineering Service (ES) organization's Floating License Asset Management (FLAMES) team. This internal role is responsible for managing Qualcomm's global EDA software licensing infrastructure, ensuring thousands of engineers have uninterrupted access to critical chip design tools. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in FlexNet (FlexLM) license management, extensive knowledge of EDA vendor tools (e.g. Synopsys, Cadence), and a strong track record in license usage tracking, optimization, vendor engagement, and compliance enforcement in a high-scale environment. This role requires full-time onsite work in San Diego, CA (5 days per week).

Requirements

7+ years of IT-related work experience with a Bachelor's degree.
OR
9+ years of IT-related work experience without a Bachelor's degree.
FlexNet License Management Expert-level knowledge of Flexera FlexNet (FlexLM) licensing. Capable of configuring and tuning FlexLM daemons for multiple vendors, managing license files/options, and performing upgrades/patching. Experience using FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications (FNMEA) to aggregate and report license usage data is highly desired.
EDA Tool Licensing In-depth understanding of licensing for major EDA tools: Synopsys (e.g. SCL license server for Design Compiler, VCS, etc.), Cadence (License Manager for Virtuoso, Innovus, etc.), and other vendors like Mentor/Siemens, Ansys, MathWorks, etc. Familiarity with both feature-based and token-based license models, and how to optimize them in a shared environment. Should be comfortable reading vendor documentation and implementing recommended practices for each tool.
Server & OS Administration Strong Linux system administration skills, especially on RHEL/SUSE. Experience managing license servers in a Linux environment, including performing OS upgrades (e.g. migrating servers from CentOS 7 to RHEL 8), applying security patches, and ensuring system reliability. Understanding of basic networking and storage as it relates to license server connectivity and log archival.
HPC Scheduler Integration Hands-on experience with IBM LSF or similar HPC schedulers, specifically using the License Scheduler component. Ability to configure license reservation queues, limits (e.g. LSF lsb.resources and `limit` settings), and integration of license checkout checks into job submission workflows. This skill is critical to enforce that compute jobs obtain licenses without causing server overload or policy violations.
Scripting & Automation Proficiency in scripting languages (Python, Perl, or Bash) to automate license management tasks. Examples include parsing FlexLM log files to generate custom reports, scripting the rotation and backup of log files, or automating the deployment of new license files to dozens of servers at once. Experience with version control (Git) for managing configuration files and scripts is a plus.
Monitoring & Analytics Experience with monitoring tools and data analysis for operations. Ability to build or use dashboards (Splunk, Grafana, PowerBI, etc.) for real-time license usage monitoring. Should be comfortable analyzing large datasets of checkout records to spot anomalies or inefficiencies. Knowledge of SQL or data processing for custom queries on usage data (from FNMEA or other DBs) is beneficial.
Vendor & Stakeholder Communication Strong communication skills to coordinate with external vendors and internal engineering stakeholders. Able to clearly articulate technical issues to vendors (e.g. describing a FlexLM bug and its impact) and to translate vendor changes (like new license terms or features) to internal teams. Experience negotiating with vendors or working with procurement on licensing contracts is preferred. Additionally, capable of creating internal documentation and conducting user info-sessions on license best practices.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related field; 5+ years of experience in a computing infrastructure or CAD/EDA support role (or 3+ years with a Master's degree).
3+ years hands-on experience managing FlexLM license servers in a mid-to-large scale environment (dozens of servers, multiple vendor license files).
Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities and excellent communication and teamwork skills.
Demonstrated expertise with EDA tool licensing for at least one major vendor (Synopsys or Cadence preferred) - e.g., administering Synopsys Common License or Cadence License Manager, including debugging checkout issues and applying vendor-specific optimizations.
Solid Linux administration skills and scripting abilities (automation of operational tasks in Python/Perl/Bash).
Experience integrating license management with workload schedulers (such as setting up IBM LSF License Scheduler or similar) to enforce license availability for batch jobs.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills - able to parse log data and performance metrics to diagnose issues (like debugging why a particular feature is overused or why a server is slow).
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work across teams and present data-driven insights. Should be comfortable collaborating with engineering users to understand their needs and with vendors to resolve problems.

Nice To Haves

8+ years of relevant experience in EDA license management or a closely related domain (CAD infrastructure, IT engineering operations).
Prior experience in a semiconductor design environment supporting hundreds of engineers or more, with understanding of chip design workflows and the importance of EDA tool uptime.
Familiarity with tools for license management is a plus (prior involvement in the EDA License Optimization).
Proven track record of driving efficiency improvements in license usage - for example, implemented a new monitoring system or process change that increased effective capacity or saved cost.
Experience with license compliance audits and license contract negotiations, demonstrating ability to interpret licensing agreements and ensure adherence.
Master's degree in a relevant field (or higher) can substitute for some experience. Certification or training in IT service management or Linux administration is a plus.

Responsibilities

License Infrastructure Administration: Oversee the installation, configuration, and maintenance of all EDA license servers (Globally). Maintain high availability and performance of license services (FlexLM daemons), including failover mechanisms and regular upgrades (e.g. OS migrations, FlexNet version updates). Monitor server health, logs, and respond to outages promptly to minimize downtime.
License Usage Monitoring & Optimization: Continuously monitor license checkout activity across all vendor tool suites using advanced tools (e.g. FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications (FNMEA), internal dashboards, Splunk). Analyze usage data to identify trends, bottlenecks, and opportunities for efficiency (e.g. idle license recovery, adjusting timeout settings). Proactively tune the environment to reduce queue times - for instance, optimize LSF License Scheduler settings and license token distribution to better utilize available capacity.
Capacity Planning & Scaling: Forecast future license demand based on engineering project needs and usage growth (checkouts every quarter). Plan and execute capacity expansions or reallocations (purchase of additional licenses or redistribution of existing ones) to ensure engineers have needed licenses without delay. Drive initiatives to modernize and scale the licensing infrastructure as demand grows (as highlighted by the ongoing EDA License Modernization project).
Support & Incident Management: Serve as the top-tier support for license-related issues and requests. Troubleshoot licensing problems (checkout denials, server issues, etc.) and resolve support tickets promptly - the team handled thousands of license support tickets every quarter, reflecting the high volume of inquiries. Develop and refine automated alerting (e.g. PagerDuty for server down or usage threshold breaches) to address incidents proactively. Communicate with end-users (engineers) to educate on best practices (like proper environment variable settings for license files).
Vendor Relationship & Negotiation: Act as the primary liaison with EDA software vendors (Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor, etc.) for all licensing matters. Negotiate contract renewals and true-ups, aligning license counts with actual usage and budget constraints. Coordinate with vendor support to troubleshoot license software bugs or limitations - for example, working with Synopsys to obtain patches or feature improvements for their license manager. Engage with Flexera for enhancements to the FlexNet system and data integration (the team collaborated on consolidating license usage data across the enterprise). Ensure Qualcomm's needs are well represented and drive vendors toward solutions that improve our environment (such as advocating for containerized license server support).
License Compliance & Policy Enforcement: Ensure full compliance with all license agreements and internal usage policies. Implement and uphold policies that govern how licenses are requested and used on the compute grid. For instance, integrate license checks into job submission - using IBM LSF's license scheduling, ensure jobs acquire necessary licenses before starting, and automatically prevent or terminate jobs that bypass license requests. Regularly audit license usage and feature checkouts to verify we stay within purchased entitlements. Address any license overuse by orchestrating procurement or temporary keys with vendors as needed. Maintain documentation of license entitlements, deployments, and policy rules to support internal audits and educate users.
Process Improvement & Automation: Continuously improve licensing operations via automation and tooling. Develop scripts and tools to automate repetitive tasks such as license deployment, usage reporting, and server failover procedures. Champion new solutions for better license management - e.g., deploy self-service portals or chatbots for common license queries (our EngIT team has been exploring chatbot integration for support). Contribute to cross-team initiatives like the "License Modernization" program, bringing innovative ideas to increase license checkout efficiency (e.g., optimizing tool license configurations to reduce extraneous traffic). Share and implement best practices in license management to further reduce cost and improve engineer productivity.

Benefits

We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play.

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