Field Applications Engineer (FAE)

Altera Corporation; San Jose, Northern (CA, KY); On-site; USD 187,000 - 271,000; Full time

Job summary

Altera Corporation in San Jose, CA, seeks a Field Applications Engineer to drive design‑ins and support customers adopting FPGA/SoC solutions. You will partner with customers, sales, and product engineering to accelerate time‑to‑market and realize the full value of Altera’s technology portfolio.

The role requires deep technical expertise in FPGA architectures, RTL, timing, and high‑speed interfaces, plus strong communication and travel readiness to customer sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering or related field.
• 10+ years 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: 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.

Responsibilities

• Interface with customers evaluating/designing with Altera FPGAs, SoCs, IP and tools.
• Support full design cycle from concept to timing closure, power optimization, and board bring‑up.
• Collaborate with sales, management and engineering on requirements, roadmap and competitive trends.
• Maintain deep knowledge of Altera FPGA architectures, Quartus, IP portfolio, and embedded software ecosystem.

Skills

RTL (Verilog/VHDL)

timing analysis

synthesis

FPGA implementation flows

PCIe/DDR/Ethernet interfaces

embedded processors

customer-facing skills

travel to customer sites

debugging with test equipment

AI/ML acceleration familiarity

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field

Tools

Quartus

Platform Designer

IP knowledge

Job description

Job Details: 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 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

• 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

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.