Field Applications Engineer (FAE)

altera; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 187,000 - 271,000; Full time

Job summary

Altera seeks a Field Applications Engineer to support customers adopting FPGA, SoC, and embedded solutions in the San Jose area. You will partner with customers, sales, and product engineering to drive design-ins, accelerate time-to-market, and deliver value across the technology portfolio.

This customer-facing, technically deep role requires strong RTL, timing, and FPGA implementation expertise, with travel to customer sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• 10+ years of FPGA design, digital logic design, embedded systems, or applications engineering.
• Strong proficiency in RTL design, timing analysis, synthesis, and FPGA implementation flows.
• Experience with high-speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR, Ethernet) and embedded processors.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and customer-facing skills.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary technical interface for customers evaluating Altera FPGAs, SoCs, IP, and software tools.
• Deliver technical presentations, hands-on workshops, and product demonstrations tailored to customer needs.
• Support customers through full design cycle—from concept to timing closure and board bring-up.
• Collaborate with sales and engineering to influence roadmap priorities and enable customers' success.

Skills

RTL design

Verilog/VHDL

Timing analysis

FPGA implementation

Embedded systems

Communication skills

Willingness to travel

Education

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

Tools

Quartus toolchain

Platform Designer

IP blocks

Job description

Altera is seeking a highly skilled Field Applications Engineer (FAE) to support customers adopting our industry‑leading FPGA, SoC, and embedded solutions.

In this role, you will partner closely with customers, sales teams, and product engineering to drive successful design‑ins, accelerate time‑to‑market, and ensure customers realize the full value of Altera's technology portfolio.

This is a customer‑facing, technically deep role ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex system‑level challenges and influencing next‑generation semiconductor designs.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Engagement & Technical Leadership

• Serve as the primary technical interface for customers evaluating and designing with Altera FPGAs, SoCs, IP, and software tools.
• Understand customer architectures, performance requirements, and design constraints to recommend optimal device families, IP blocks, and development flows.
• Deliver technical presentations, hands‑on workshops, and product demonstrations tailored to customer needs.
• Guide customers through feasibility analysis, device selection, and early‑stage design decisions.

Design‑In Support & Problem Solving

• Support customers through the full design cycle - from concept and RTL development to timing closure, power optimization, and board bring‑up.
• Troubleshoot complex issues involving FPGA logic, embedded processors, high‑speed interfaces, memory subsystems, and power architectures.
• Develop reference designs, application notes, and best‑practice guides to accelerate customer success.
• Collaborate with internal engineering teams to reproduce issues, validate fixes, and influence roadmap priorities.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Partner with sales teams to support opportunity qualification, competitive positioning, and technical strategy.
• Provide structured feedback to product management and engineering on customer requirements, emerging use cases, and competitive trends.
• Represent Altera at customer meetings, industry events, and technical conferences.

Technical Expertise & Thought Leadership

• Maintain deep knowledge of Altera's FPGA architectures, Quartus toolchain, IP portfolio, and embedded software ecosystem.
• Stay current on industry trends in AI/ML acceleration, high‑performance compute, networking, automotive, and industrial applications.
• Mentor internal teams and contribute to technical enablement programs.

Salary Range

The compensation below is reflective of a sales role that includes a salary + incentive. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor within the US market. Actual compensation may vary based on a number of factors including job location, job-related knowledge, skills, experiences, trainings, etc.

$187K - $270.7K USD

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in FPGA design, digital logic design, embedded systems, or applications engineering.
• Strong proficiency in RTL (Verilog/VHDL), timing analysis, synthesis, and FPGA implementation flows.
• Experience with high‑speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR, Ethernet), embedded processors, or board‑level design.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and customer‑facing skills.
• Ability to travel to customer sites as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience with Altera/Intel Quartus , Platform Designer, and associated IP.
• Familiarity with AI/ML acceleration, DSP, or hardware/software co‑design.
• Experience supporting enterprise customers or large‑scale deployments.
• Strong debugging skills using logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and embedded debug tools.

Job Type

Regular

Shift

Shift 1 (United States of America)

Primary Location

San Jose, California, United States

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.