Cadence · 5 days ago
Senior Manager/Director, Corporate Strategy & Development – Physical AI/Robotics
San Jose, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff, Director/Executive
$144K/yr - $268K/yr
6+ years expCadence is a technology company focused on innovation and leadership. They are seeking a corporate strategy leader to develop and execute growth strategies in Physical AI and robotics, involving M&A and cross-functional collaboration.
AerospaceElectronic Design Automation (EDA)HardwareMobileSemiconductorSoftware
Responsibilities
Create and refine corporate growth strategies with a dedicated focus on Physical AI/robotics—market maps, product–market fit analyses, and executive storylines that turn insights into decisions
Develop investment thesis on the Physical AI stack (robots, middleware, simulation, training, deployment) and quantify where and how Cadence can create differentiated value
Build a high‑quality pipeline of direct investment targets and LP opportunities; run thesis‑driven sourcing and diligence, and prepare investment memos for leadership
Partner with product and engineering to assess buy/build/partner options—including co‑development, strategic partnerships, minority investments, and acquisitions
Lead end‑to‑end corporate development execution: source, evaluate, negotiate, and close transactions; partner with integration team to drive plans that realize strategic and financial value
Establish mechanisms for fast‑turn competitive intelligence, annual market sizing/forecasting, and executive dashboards that inform capital allocation and portfolio bets
Stand up an operating cadence for executive reporting on the Physical AI landscape
Deliver investment thesis on Physical AI/robotics for executive review
Close 3-4 partnerships/investments/acquisitions
Qualification
Required
BS in Engineering (minimum) and 6+ years of relevant experience spanning corporate strategy, corporate development, venture investing, or product/engineering roles in robotics
Familiarity with the entire physical AI/robotics policy training and validation pipeline, including hands-on experience with modern simulation environments (e.g. Isaac Sim, Gazebo, Drake), deep understanding of physics-based simulation tools and engines (e.g. PhysX, MuJoCo), and proficiency in development frameworks and middleware (e.g. ROS/ROS2)
Proven end‑to‑end M&A execution experience: sourcing, diligence, valuation/modeling, negotiation, close, and integration planning
Investment acumen: skilled at building theses, conducting technical/market/product diligence, drafting memos, and recommending direct investments and LP commitments
Executive communication: ability to distill complex technical and market insights into crisp narratives, visuals, and decision‑ready materials
Preferred
Advanced degree (MS, MBA) or equivalent; publications or demonstrated thought leadership in robotics/AI
Familiarity with reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and sim‑to‑real transfer; practical exposure to datasets, synthetic data generation, and evaluation protocols
Track record of cross‑functional leadership with Product, R&D, Finance, Legal, and GTM; comfort operating in ambiguous, fast‑moving environments
Benefits
Paid vacation and paid holidays
401(k) plan with employer match
Employee stock purchase plan
A variety of medical, dental and vision plan options
And more
Company
Cadence
Cadence is a market leader in AI and digital twins, pioneering the application of computational software to accelerate innovation in the engineering design of silicon to systems.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Cadence has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (306)
2024 (221)
2023 (282)
2022 (330)
2021 (233)
2020 (209)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
unknown1998-02-20IPO
Leadership Team
Paul Cunningham
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Tom Beckley
Senior Vice President, Custom IC & PCB Group
Recent News
2026-01-07
Company data provided by crunchbase