Applications Engineering, Staff Engineer

Synopsys Inc; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Synopsys Inc in Sunnyvale seeks a verification-focused engineer to support ZeBu emulation systems for customers building AI, automotive, and data center silicon.

You will deploy, configure, and debug emulation setups, contribute to presales proofs-of-concept, and deliver post‑sales technical support while collaborating with field teams.

You will grow your skills by working with RTL, testbenches, and hardware logs, repeatedly solving real customer problems that influence product improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 2–4 years working in IC design, ASIC verification, emulation, or FPGA-based prototyping.
• Strong understanding of ASIC verification methodologies and how simulation‑based verification flows are structured.
• Proficiency with Verilog or VHDL; reading RTL code and spotting issues.
• Working knowledge of verification environments: testbenches, stimulus generation, and checking mechanisms.
• Excellent communication skills for customer calls and emails.
• Experience with SystemVerilog, UVM, C/C++, Python, or Tcl scripting is a plus; hands‑on with Palladium, ZeBu, Veloce is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and configure ZeBu emulation systems for customer evaluations and production verification environments.
• Debug customer design issues by working through RTL code, testbenches, emulation tool configurations, and hardware logs to isolate root causes.
• Support presales activities by setting up proof‑of‑concept environments and demonstrating how emulation fits verification flows.
• Provide post‑sales technical support, troubleshooting tool behavior, answering methodology questions, and escalating complex issues to R&D when needed.
• Collaborate with senior applications engineers and product teams to resolve customer problems and learn emulation best practices.
• Document technical solutions, create customer‑facing notes, and contribute to internal knowledge base content that helps the broader team.
• Participate in customer calls and onsite visits to understand design challenges and communicate solutions clearly in real time.

Skills

Strong communication

Ownership mentality

Problem solving

Customer interaction

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Tools

Verilog/VHDL

SystemVerilog/UVM

C/C++

Python

Palladium

ZeBu

Veloce

Job description

We Are

Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.

You Are

You have spent enough time in verification to know that when a simulation runs for three days and still has not finished, emulation is what saves the project. You understand the fundamentals of RTL, testbenches, and verification flows, but you are ready to specialize in the hardware platforms that make large-scale verification possible. Debugging does not intimidate you. When something breaks, you dig into waveforms, trace signals, check configurations, and work the problem until it makes sense.

Working with customers energizes you. You like being the person who answers the call when a design will not compile or a testbench is behaving strangely on hardware. You do not need to know everything upfront. You are comfortable saying "let me look into that" and then actually doing it. Multitasking comes naturally because you have learned how to keep track of what is blocking whom and what needs attention next.

At Synopsys, you will support ZeBu emulation systems for customers building chips that power AI, automotive systems, and high-performance computing. You will work alongside experienced engineers who will teach you the deep stuff while you handle real customer problems that matter right now.

What You'll Be Doing

• Deploy and configure ZeBu emulation systems for customer evaluations and production verification environments
• Debug customer design issues by working through RTL code, testbenches, emulation tool configurations, and hardware logs to isolate root causes
• Support presales activities by setting up proof‑of‑concept environments, running customer designs on ZeBu, and demonstrating how emulation fits their verification flow
• Provide post‑sales technical support, troubleshooting tool behavior, answering methodology questions, and escalating complex issues to R&D when needed
• Collaborate with senior applications engineers and product teams to resolve customer problems and learn emulation best practices
• Document technical solutions, create customer‑facing notes, and contribute to internal knowledge base content that helps the broader team
• Participate in customer calls and onsite visits to understand design challenges and communicate solutions clearly in real time

The Impact You Will Have

• Accelerate customer time to productivity by getting ZeBu systems deployed faster and reducing setup friction
• Keep verification schedules on track by resolving technical blockers that would otherwise stall customer projects
• Build trust with customers through responsive, clear, and solution‑focused support that makes them want to come back to Synopsys
• Strengthen the team's knowledge base by documenting solutions and surfacing patterns that help everyone work smarter
• Identify recurring customer pain points that inform product improvements and better support workflows
• Enable broader adoption of emulation by making the technology more approachable and easier to integrate into existing verification environments
• Support customers who are verifying the chips that will power the next wave of AI, autonomous vehicles, and data center infrastructure

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent hands‑on experience
• 2 to 4 years working in IC design, ASIC verification, emulation, or FPGA-based prototyping
• Solid understanding of ASIC verification methodologies and how simulation‑based verification flows are structured
• Proficiency with Verilog or VHDL, you can read RTL code and spot common design or testbench issues
• Working knowledge of how verification environments are built, including testbenches, stimulus generation, and checking mechanisms
• Strong communication skills, you can write a clear technical email and explain a complex issue on a customer call without losing the thread
• Experience with SystemVerilog, UVM, C/C++, Python, or Tcl scripting is a plus, as is hands‑on work with Palladium, ZeBu, Veloce, or other hardware emulation or prototyping platforms

Who You Are

• You take ownership of customer problems even when the path to resolution is not obvious, you figure out what you need to learn and who can help
• You juggle multiple support requests without losing track, you know what is urgent, what is waiting on the customer, and what needs follow‑up tomorrow
• You ask questions when you are stuck and you learn quickly from the answers, you do not pretend to know something you do not
• You can explain a technical issue to a customer in a way that makes sense even when the details are still messy or incomplete
• You stay calm when a customer is frustrated or a demo is not working as expected, you focus on solving the problem rather than defending the tool
• You are building your technical depth and you are hungry to learn from experienced engineers and challenging real‑world customer problems

The Team You'll Be Part Of

You will be part of the Synopsys Verification Group, working specifically with the ZeBu emulation platform, the industry's performance and capacity leader in emulation. Your work will span presales evaluations, post‑sales support, and close collaboration with R&D and field teams to ensure customers can successfully deploy and scale emulation in their verification flows. The team operates globally, supporting customers across a wide range of industries who are building the most complex chips in the world.

Rewards And Benefits

We offer a comprehensive range of health, wellness, and financial benefits to cater to your needs. Our total rewards include both monetary and non‑monetary offerings. Your recruiter will provide more details about the salary range and benefits during the hiring process.