Director - Field Application Engineering (EMEA)

Axelera AI; Eindhoven; Remote; EUR 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension plan

Employee insurances

Company shares

Job summary

Axelera AI is seeking a Director of Field Application Engineering to lead the FAE function across EMEA. The role starts hands-on with customers and evolves into building a regional team, focusing on Metis AI Platform evaluation, integration, and production deployment with OEMs, system integrators, and end users.

The position is hardware-focused, requiring collaboration with R&D and Product teams across Europe and globally.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or Embedded Systems.
• 10+ years in customer-facing FAE or applications engineering in semiconductor/AI/embedded.
• 5+ years leading FAE teams or equivalent.
• Experience with ARM-based SoCs and embedded compute modules.
• Experience with embedded Linux, bootloaders, BSPs, and system bring-up.
• Strong debugging of complex hardware/software integration issues.
• Familiarity with AI accelerators, NPUs, GPUs, or edge AI platforms.
• Excellent English communication; French and/or Italian a plus.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior technical contact for EMEA customers from engineers to leadership.
• Lead hardware bring-up, board integration, and embedded system debugging on-site and remotely.
• Support chip-down design and custom carrier board development for AI deployments.
• Guide customers deploying models and inference pipelines via Voyager SDK.
• Troubleshoot PCIe, power sequencing, signal integrity, thermal, and BSP bring-up issues.
• Drive pre-sales engagement and design wins across OEM/ODM, integrators, and users.

Skills

Embedded board design

Chip-down development

ARM-based SoCs

Embedded Linux

Signal integrity

High-speed interfaces

Thermal design

AI accelerators

Customer-facing leadership

Travel readiness

Education

Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Embedded Systems

Tools

Yocto

Buildroot

Debian-based embedded Linux

Job description

About Us

Axelera AI is the leading provider of purpose-built AI hardware acceleration technology for AI inference, including computer vision and generative AI applications. Our first-generation product is the game-changing Metis AI platform - a holistic hardware and software solution for Edge AI inference which delivers the world’s highest performance and power-efficiency at a fraction of the cost of alternative solutions. Headquartered in the AI Innovation Center of the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, we also have offices across in Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, France, and the UK, with employees across 20 countries. Our unwavering commitment to innovation has firmly established us as a global industry pioneer. Are you up for the challenge?

Position Overview

We are looking for a Director of Field Application Engineering to lead our FAE function across EMEA. Initially hands-on with customers, you will build and grow a regional team over time. The role is hardware-focused, supporting evaluation, integration, and production deployment of our Metis AI Platform (PCIe boards, compute modules) across OEM/ODMs, system integrators, and end users in industrial automation, smart vision, automotive, and robotics. Reporting to the VP of Customer Success (Belgium), you will collaborate with existing Axelera colleagues across EMEA and with our global R&D and Product teams.

Key responsibilities:

Hands-On Customer & Technical Engagement

• Senior primary technical contact for EMEA customers, engaging from engineers to senior leadership
• Lead hardware bring-up, board integration, and embedded system debugging on-site and remotely
• Support chip-down design, custom carrier board development, and embedded Linux integration
• Guide customers deploying AI models and inference pipelines via the Voyager SDK
• Debug PCIe, power sequencing, signal integrity, thermal, and BSP bring-up issues
• Drive pre-sales engagement and design wins across OEM/ODM, integrators, and end users across Europe

Regional Leadership & Team Building

• Build FAE processes, documentation, and support infrastructure for the EMEA region
• Recruit, mentor, and manage EMEA FAE engineers as the team scales
• Align priorities with commercial goals; contribute to EMEA and global FAE strategy
• Act as the senior technical bridge between EMEA customer needs and global R&D and Product teams

Customer Advocacy & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Surface customer feedback and roadmap input to Product Management and R&D
• Maintain relationships with key accounts, distributors, and channel partners across EMEA
• Partner with Sales and BD on product introductions, onboarding, and competitive intelligence
• Represent Axelera AI at EMEA industry events, conferences, and technical forums

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Embedded Systems, or related field
• 10+ years customer-facing FAE or applications engineering in semiconductor, AI, or embedded systems
• 5+ years leading FAE teams or managing technical customer-facing functions
• Strong experience with embedded board design, chip-down development, and custom carrier board design
• Experience with ARM-based SoCs and embedded compute modules
• Experience with embedded AI or computer vision workloads
• Strong understanding of high-speed digital interfaces, signal integrity, power sequencing, and thermal design
• Experience with embedded Linux, bootloaders, BSPs, and low-level system bring-up
• Proven ability to debug complex hardware/software integration issues
• Familiarity with AI accelerators, NPUs, GPUs, or edge AI platforms
• Commercial mindset; track record driving design wins through full evaluation and adoption cycles
• Excellent English communication skills, as well as fluency in French and/or Italian
• Ability to travel extensively across EMEA

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with Yocto, Buildroot, or Debian-based embedded Linux systems
• Experience with PCIe enumeration, MSI/MSI-X, DMA, and memory subsystems
• Experience with production validation, manufacturing bring-up, and thermal/power optimisation for AI systems
• Existing technical relationships in EMEA’s OEM/ODM, system integrator, or AI ecosystem
• Proficiency in additional EMEA languages (German, Arabic, Spanish) is a plus

Location

We offer a flexible working arrangement, with options to:

• Work from one of our Axelera AI offices (Paris, Florence or Milan)
• Work fully remotely from France or Italy
• Relocate with us and work from Italy (Florence or Milan) or France (Paris)

What weoffer

This is your chance to shape and be part of a dynamic, fast-growing, international organisation. We offer an attractive compensation package, including a pension plan, extensive employee insurances and the option to get company shares.

An open culture that supports creativity and continual innovation is awaiting you. Collaborative ownership and freedom with responsibility is characteristic for the way we act and work as a team.

At Axelera AI, we wholeheartedly embrace equal opportunity and hold diversity in the highest regard. Our steadfast commitment is to cultivate a warm and inclusive environment that empowers and celebrates every member of our team. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds to join us in shaping the future of AI.