About Altera
At Altera™, our independence as the world’s largest pure‑play FPGA solutions provider gives us the focus, speed, and agility to innovate without compromise. With more than four decades of industry‑leading FPGA expertise, our singular mission is to deliver the programmable technologies that help customers differentiate, innovate, and scale across rapidly evolving markets like AI, cloud, networking, and edge. As an independent company, we move faster, invest deeper, and partner more closely—empowering our teams to drive breakthrough innovation and shape the future of the FPGA industry.
About the Role
Altera is seeking a Senior Director, ARM CPU Design and Verification to lead the design, verification, silicon validation, and execution of next-generation ARM-based processor solutions integrated into advanced heterogeneous compute platforms.
This executive leader will be responsible for building and leading globally distributed engineering organizations while driving ARM CPU design, SoC integration, design verification, emulation, silicon validation, and post-silicon execution from concept through high-volume production.
The successful candidate will partner closely with CPU Architecture, RTL Design, Software, Firmware, Product Engineering, Manufacturing, and Executive Leadership to define long-term CPU development strategy while ensuring successful execution of multiple high-performance processor programs.
Responsibilities
Lead global engineering organizations responsible for ARM CPU design, design verification, emulation, and silicon validation.
Drive execution of complex ARM CPU and SoC programs from architecture definition through production silicon.
Define and execute long-term CPU design and verification roadmaps aligned with Altera's product strategy.
Partner with CPU Architecture teams to define processor microarchitecture, memory hierarchy, cache coherency, interconnect, and chiplet architectures.
Lead RTL design, functional verification, emulation, FPGA prototyping, system validation, and post-silicon validation strategies.
Drive silicon quality, bring-up, debug, characterization, yield improvement, reliability, and manufacturing readiness.
Collaborate with Software, Firmware, AI, Security, and Product Engineering teams on hardware/software co-design initiatives.
Define engineering methodologies, verification infrastructure, EDA flows, automation strategies, and best practices that improve engineering productivity and product quality.
Build, mentor, and develop high-performing engineering organizations across multiple geographic locations.
Drive executive-level technical decision making across CPU design, verification, validation, implementation, and production.
Partner with executive leadership to establish long-term CPU technology investments, product roadmaps, and engineering strategy.
Salary Range
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.
$231,500 - 341,000 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.
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Qualifications:Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field and 20+ years of semiconductor engineering experience, or a Master's degree with 18+ years of related experience, or a Ph.D. with 15+ years of related experience.
15+ years of experience designing ARM-based CPUs, processors, or complex SoCs.
12+ years of experience leading engineering teams responsible for CPU design, design verification, or semiconductor product development.
10+ years of experience managing cross-functional engineering programs through the complete silicon lifecycle, including architecture, RTL design, verification, validation, silicon bring-up, and production.
10+ years of experience with CPU microarchitecture, multi-core processor design, cache coherency, memory hierarchy, and high-performance compute architectures.
10+ years of experience developing or integrating complex SoCs utilizing industry-standard interconnect protocols such as AMBA AXI, ACE, or CHI.
8+ years of experience leading functional verification, UVM verification, emulation, FPGA prototyping, or system validation activities.
8+ years of experience leading post-silicon bring-up, silicon validation, debug, characterization, yield improvement, or manufacturing readiness activities.
8+ years of experience partnering with software, firmware, architecture, product engineering, and manufacturing organizations to deliver complex semiconductor products.
8+ years of experience managing geographically distributed engineering teams across multiple global locations.
5+ years of experience establishing or improving engineering methodologies, EDA flows, verification infrastructure, continuous integration, or design automation processes.
Preferred Qualifications
Master's degree or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
10+ years of experience developing high-performance server-class ARM processors or data center SoCs.
8+ years of experience with ARM Neoverse architectures or other high-performance ARM CPU implementations.
8+ years of experience with chiplet-based architectures, UCIe, or Network-on-Chip (NoC) technologies.
8+ years of experience with UVM-based Design Verification methodologies.
5+ years of experience with coherent interconnect protocols including CHI, ACE, or AXI.
5+ years of experience with high-speed interfaces such as PCIe, DDR, HBM, CXL, or Ethernet.
5+ years of experience supporting AI, cloud infrastructure, high-performance computing (HPC), or data center semiconductor products.
Experience developing FPGA-based, programmable logic, or heterogeneous compute solutions.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related and 20+ years semiconductor engineering experience; or Master's with 18+ years; or Ph.D. with 15+ years.
- 15+ years designing ARM-based CPUs, processors, or complex SoCs.
- 12+ years leading engineering teams responsible for CPU design, design verification, or semiconductor product development.
- 10+ years managing cross-functional engineering programs through the complete silicon lifecycle (architecture, RTL, verification, validation, bring-up, production).
- 10+ years experience with CPU microarchitecture, multi-core processor design, cache coherency, memory hierarchy, and high-performance compute architectures.
- 10+ years developing or integrating complex SoCs utilizing interconnect protocols such as AMBA AXI, ACE, or CHI.
- 8+ years leading functional verification, UVM verification, emulation, FPGA prototyping, or system validation activities.
- 8+ years leading post-silicon bring-up, silicon validation, debug, characterization, yield improvement, or manufacturing readiness activities.
- 8+ years partnering with software, firmware, architecture, product engineering, and manufacturing organizations to deliver complex semiconductor products.
- 8+ years managing geographically distributed engineering teams across multiple global locations.
- 5+ years establishing or improving engineering methodologies, EDA flows, verification infrastructure, continuous integration, or design automation processes.
- Master's degree or Ph.D. in relevant technical discipline.
- 10+ years developing high-performance server-class ARM processors or data center SoCs.
- 8+ years experience with ARM Neoverse architectures or other high-performance ARM CPU implementations.
- 8+ years experience with chiplet-based architectures, UCIe, or Network-on-Chip (NoC) technologies.
- 8+ years experience with UVM-based design verification methodologies.
- 5+ years experience with coherent interconnect protocols including CHI, ACE, or AXI.
- 5+ years experience with high-speed interfaces such as PCIe, DDR, HBM, CXL, or Ethernet.
- 5+ years supporting AI, cloud infrastructure, high-performance computing, or data center semiconductor products.
- Experience developing FPGA-based, programmable logic, or heterogeneous compute solutions.
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.
