DSP Specialist FAE (Field Applications Engineer) – West Region

191 Altera Corporation; Sacramento (CA); Hybrid; USD 159,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

191 Altera Corporation seeks a DSP Specialist Field Applications Engineer to bridge customers, sales, and engineering for DSP-based FPGA deployments. You will provide deep DSP expertise, design-in guidance, and hands-on support across the customer design cycle, driving opportunities and validating architectures.

The role requires 10+ years in FPGA/DSP and travel; located in the Sacramento area with remote work options.

Qualifications

• 10+ years FPGA digital design experience.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical interface for customers evaluating DSP in Altera FPGAs.

Skills

FPGA design

DSP concepts

MATLAB/Simulink

Python/C++

Strong communication

Travel

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Tools

Quartus

Vivado

DSP Builder

System Generator

OneAPI

MATLAB

Simulink

Python

C/C++

Job description

Job Details: Job Description: The DSP Specialist Field Applications Engineer (FAE) serves as a critical technical bridge between customers, sales teams, and engineering. This role focuses on driving adoption and successful deployment of DSP-based solutions in Altera FPGAs by providing deep technical expertise, application guidance, and hands‑on support throughout the customer design cycle. In addition, the DSP Specialist FAE plays a key role in advancing DirectRF strategic opportunities, ensuring effective qualification, prioritization, and execution of high‑value DSP engagements.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Engagement & Technical Leadership

• Serve as the technical interface for customers evaluating or implementing DSP solutions in Altera FPGAs
• Provide architecture guidance, system‑level design recommendations, and performance optimization strategies
• Lead technical discussions and solution positioning with engineering teams and decision‑makers

Pre‑Sales & Design‑In Support

• Collaborate with Sales and FSEs to identify, qualify, and drive DSP‑related opportunities
• Demo, present, and position DSP architectures using IP and tools such as DSP Builder (via MATLAB/Simulink)
• Support customers through the full design cycle— from concept to production DSP

Expertise & Solution Development

• Provide deep expertise in digital signal processing concepts (e.g., filtering, channelization, beamforming, RF/DSP chains)
• Debug and resolve complex system and application‑level issues
• Develop reusable architectures, demonstrations, and design collateral to scale DSP engagement efficiency

DirectRF Support

• Partner with Altera’s Aerospace, Defense and Government (ADG) group to support DirectRF opportunities, while also helping define future products
• Partner with Sales and Distribution to identify and support DirectRF‑eligible opportunities across assigned accounts and distribution partners
• Identify and define appropriate RF+DSP architectures to support customer requirements

Collaboration & Enablement

• Work closely with product marketing, engineering, and internal FAEs to align on strategy and execution
• Deliver internal and customer‑facing training on DSP solutions, tools, and design methodologies
• Contribute to application notes, reference designs, and solution documentation
• Provide input to the Altera factory, based on customer engagements, to help guide future product architecture decisions

Business Impact & Opportunity Ownership

• Support high‑value opportunities and strategic accounts with measurable revenue impact
• Provide technical input into opportunity qualification, prioritization and resource allocation
• Contribute to tracking design wins, pipeline progression and program success metrics

Soft Skills

• Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to simplify complex technical concepts – including presenting at industry forums
• Customer‑focused mindset with strong problem‑solving ability
• Ability to operate cross‑functionally in a fast‑paced, high‑impact environment

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. $159.1K - $230.4K 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.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of FPGA digital design experience (FPGA development tools ex. Quartus, Vivado, etc)
• 10+ years of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) experience (concepts and applications)
• Experience with high‑level FPGA algorithm development tools (DSP Builder, System Generator, OneAPI)
• Proficiency with tools such as MATLAB, Simulink, Python, or C/C++
• Familiarity with RF systems, communications, or signal chain design (preferred)
• Willing to travel (this position requires travel)
• Bachelor’s degree in STEM‑related field (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related Electrical/Electronic degree
• Post Bachelor’s degree 5+ years of experience with Image Processing / Communications / Radar / EW applications
• 5+ years of experience with MATLAB/Simulink or other DSP‑centric design flows and tools
• 5+ years or experience as FAE or technical sales, applications, technical marketing

Job Type: Regular Shift: Shift 1 (United States of America) Primary Location: Sacramento, California, United States (Remote) Additional Locations:

Posting Statement: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.

About Altera 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.