AVP-Software Solution Engineer

Altera • San Jose, CA

2d • $231,500 - $375,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Altera is building the software stack that takes FPGAs from silicon all the way to the host application. This involves the full path a host-side application takes down through framework and driver layers to the hardware doing the work. The AVP, Software Solution Engineering will own the architecture of this full stack and lead the team building its top layers: the host application layer and the framework/integration layer. This role involves setting interface contracts for all layers beneath and acting as a technical counterpart to outside platform or framework providers. It is a hands-on architecture role focused on making design decisions about host application to hardware acceleration communication and leading a team in shipping and maintaining the stack as a product.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field required.
• 15+ years of experience in software engineering, software architecture, or platform development, with significant experience building and delivering complex, multi-layer software systems.
• Experience leading engineering teams and defining APIs, SDKs, frameworks, or platform integrations is required.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) preferred.
• Experience with hardware-accelerated computing, FPGA, semiconductor, cloud, AI/ML, or high-performance computing environments is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Architect a multi-layer software stack end to end — from the host application layer down through framework/integration, accelerated services and libraries, runtime and data movement, drivers, and the underlying FPGA hardware — even where you don't own every layer directly.
• Own delivery of the top two layers: the host application layer (application logic, orchestration, tooling for whatever workload runs on top) and the framework/integration layer (SDK and API integration with whatever host frameworks, operating environments, or third-party platforms the application depends on).
• Define and hold stable interface contracts between layers so teams building the lower layers can develop against a fixed spec rather than a moving target.
• Serve as the architecture-level technical counterpart where the stack integrates with an external platform or framework provider — co-designing, not just consuming their SDK.
• Lead and grow a small team of software engineers building and maintaining the layers you own.
• Partner with solution architects and solution engineers building customer proofs-of-concept, ensuring their work is built on top of your production stack rather than diverging from it.
• Track the roadmaps of whatever host platforms, frameworks, or dependencies the stack integrates with, and adapt the architecture as they evolve.

Benefits

• We also offer incentive opportunities that reward employees based on individual and company performance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager