Altera is seeking a highly motivated FPGA System Design Engineer to join our Aerospace, Defense, and Government (ADG) solutions team. In this role, you will work directly with strategic customers to architect, implement, optimize, and benchmark advanced signal processing and embedded computing solutions on Altera FPGA platforms.
You will collaborate with industry experts, customer engineering teams, and internal FPGA tool development organizations to accelerate customer success, demonstrate the value of Altera technology, and influence future product and software capabilities. This position provides an exciting opportunity to work on cutting-edge technologies including FPGA-based DSP, embedded systems, AI inference, high-speed data converters, and advanced RF signal processing applications.
Key Responsibilities
Design, develop, and implement FPGA-based solutions using RTL, DSP Builder, and embedded processor technologies for defense and aerospace applications.
Partner directly with strategic customers to deploy and optimize DSP, communications, AI, and signal processing algorithms on Altera FPGA devices.
Develop benchmarks, proof-of-concept demonstrations, reference designs, and complete system solutions that showcase FPGA performance and value.
Collaborate closely with FPGA software and tools teams to identify customer needs, drive tool enhancements, and influence future product features.
Analyze system-level performance and optimize FPGA implementations for throughput, latency, power, and resource utilization.
Support customer design activities including architecture reviews, debugging, performance tuning, and technical enablement.
Contribute technical collateral including design documentation, application notes, training materials, and best-practice guides.
The pay range below is for Bay Area California only. Actual salary may vary based on a number of factors including job location, job-related knowledge, skills, experiences, trainings, etc. We also offer incentive opportunities that reward employees based on individual and company performance.
$118.9K - $172.2K USD
We use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for the position. Applicants must be eligible for any required U.S. export authorizations.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
3+ years of experience in FPGA design and algorithm implementation.
2+ years of software development experience using C/C++.
1+ year of FPGA development experience using Verilog or VHDL.
Strong understanding of digital logic design and FPGA development methodologies.
Experience debugging and validating complex hardware/software systems.
Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Security Clearance Requirement
This position may involve work on U.S. Government contracts that require access to controlled or classified information. Accordingly, all applicants must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance as a condition of employment. Failure to obtain or maintain the required security clearance may result in the withdrawal of an employment offer or termination of employment, consistent with applicable law.
Preferred Qualifications
Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
Hands-on experience with:
MATLAB and Simulink
C/C++ and CUDA
Verilog and/or VHDL FPGA design
Quartus® Prime and ModelSim™/Questa™ simulation tools
Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)
Background in one or more of the following:
Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
Signal and Image Processing
Wireless and Communication Systems
Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning
High-speed ADC/DAC architectures
RF and Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems
Experience with FPGA SoCs, embedded processors, and heterogeneous computing architectures.
Demonstrated ability to learn new technologies quickly and work independently in a fast-paced environment.
Strong collaboration, presentation, and customer-facing communication skills.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline
- 3+ years of experience in FPGA design and algorithm implementation
- 2+ years of software development experience using C/C++
- 1+ year of FPGA development experience using Verilog or VHDL
- Strong understanding of digital logic design and FPGA development methodologies
- Experience debugging and validating complex hardware/software systems
- Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills
- Eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
- Eligible for any required U.S. export authorizations
- Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
- Hands-on experience with MATLAB and Simulink
- Experience with CUDA
- Experience with Quartus Prime and ModelSim/Questa simulation tools
- Experience with Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)
- Background in Digital Signal Processing, Signal and Image Processing, Wireless and Communication Systems, AI/Deep Learning, High-speed ADC/DAC architectures, or RF/SDR systems
- Experience with FPGA SoCs, embedded processors, and heterogeneous computing architectures
- Strong collaboration, presentation, and customer-facing communication skills
Altera (altera.com) Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Altera (altera.com) and has not been reviewed or approved by Altera (altera.com).
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Retirement Support — Feedback suggests retirement programs are robust, with offerings such as a 401(k) and a pension. This breadth supports long-term financial security.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Feedback suggests time-off policies are generous, including PTO, paid sick days, and paid holidays. Wellness initiatives like gym memberships further support balance.
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Parental & Family Support — Feedback suggests parental leave is generous. Family-building support, including fertility benefits and adoption reimbursement, is highlighted as part of the package.
Altera (altera.com) Insights
What We Do
Altera: Accelerating Innovators Altera provides leadership programmable solutions that are easy-to-use and deploy in applications from cloud to edge, offering limitless AI possibilities. Our end-to-end broad portfolio of products including FPGAs, CPLDs, Intellectual Property, development tools, System on Modules, SmartNICs and IPUs provide the flexibility to accelerate innovation. Altera is helping to shape the future through pioneering innovation that unlocks extraordinary possibilities for everyone on the planet.








