FPGA IP Software Development Engineer

Altera Semiconductor•San Jose, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Altera is seeking an FPGA IP Software Development Engineer to help develop next-generation FPGA-based platforms and embedded solutions. The role focuses on designing, integrating, validating, and debugging FPGA-based systems for embedded, networking, and acceleration applications, with an emphasis on FPGA RTL development and system integration involving PCIe, high-speed interfaces, external memory interfaces (EMIF), and Ethernet IPs. The engineer will collaborate with hardware, software, and application teams on FPGA hardware/software co-development, system bring-up, debugging, and optimization. Products include SmartNICs, embedded platforms interacting with GPUs, ARM HPS-based solutions, communication systems, and data-center acceleration solutions. The role also contributes to architecture discussions, technical reviews, customer-facing technical investigations, and improvements to development, verification, and debugging methods. The listed Bay Area, California salary range is $133.2K–$212.7K USD; actual pay may vary based on factors including location, skills, and experience. Incentive opportunities are also offered based on individual and company performance. Applicants must be eligible for any required U.S. export authorizations. Altera uses artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
At least 3 years of experience in FPGA design and development.
Strong RTL development experience using Verilog and/or SystemVerilog.
Experience integrating FPGA IPs such as PCIe, Ethernet, EMIF, and ARM HPS.
Experience with FPGA system bring-up, validation, and debugging.
Understanding of FPGA development toolchains and implementation flows.
Strong problem-solving and debugging skills.
Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, fast-paced development environment.
Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and ability to bridge hardware and software teams.
Excellent debugging and root-cause analysis capabilities.
Self-motivation, strong communication and technical documentation skills, and interest in concurrent hardware/software co-development.
Eligibility for any required U.S. export authorizations.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree (strongly preferred).
Experience with FPGA hardware/software co-development and system-level integration.
Software development experience in C/C++, Python, or embedded Linux environments.
Experience developing FPGA-based embedded systems or SmartNIC solutions.
Familiarity with networking protocols and data-center acceleration architectures.
Experience with FPGA acceleration frameworks and software abstractions.
Prior research or industry experience in FPGA-based acceleration, embedded systems, communications, robotics, or AI/GPU applications.
Experience working within a semiconductor or programmable logic environment.
Passion for learning new technologies.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, integrate, and validate RTL for FPGA-based systems and platforms.
Implement and integrate FPGA subsystems using PCIe, EMIF, Ethernet and networking IPs, and on-board ARM Hard Processor Systems (HPS).
Support FPGA system architecture, performance optimization, and debugging.
Collaborate with software and application teams on FPGA hardware/software co-design and integration.
Support board bring-up, system-level validation, and debugging.
Develop software abstractions, drivers, and frameworks that enable FPGA acceleration solutions.
Partner with cross-functional teams to optimize end-to-end system performance.
Contribute to development of SmartNICs, embedded computing platforms, ARM-based FPGA systems, and communication and data-center acceleration solutions.
Participate in architecture discussions and technical reviews.
Support product deployment and customer-facing technical investigations as needed.
Improve FPGA development, verification, and debugging methodologies.
Evaluate and adopt new tools, flows, and automation techniques.
Stay current with advancements in FPGA technologies, networking, and embedded systems.