Senior FPGA Development Kit Technical Lead Engineer

Altera Corporation; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 241,000; Full time

Job summary

Altera Corporation is seeking a Senior FPGA Development Kit Technical Lead Engineer in San Jose, CA. You will lead end‑to‑end development for FPGA development kits, coordinating with RTL, firmware, and manufacturing teams to deliver high‑quality platforms on schedule.

The role requires 10+ years in FPGA platforms, board development, and cross‑functional leadership, with emphasis on program execution, risk management, and supplier collaboration to optimize cost and performance.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional engineering experience in FPGA platforms, development or evaluation kits, board development, test engineering, or closely related areas.
• Experience with FPGA development, board‑level hardware, RTL, firmware, or hardware test environments; working knowledge of Altera Quartus tool flow.
• Experience mentoring engineers and leading cross‑functional teams through technical issues and risks.

Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end development of Altera FPGA Development Kits with board architecture, RTL, and firmware teams.
• Oversee development kit manufacturing execution with contract manufacturers and PCB fabricators.
• Drive BOM planning and cost optimization, managing part availability and engineering change orders.
• Coordinate across architecture, validation, firmware, and manufacturing teams to deliver kits on schedule.
• Improve design methods and platform robustness through lessons learned.

Skills

FPGA development

Board development

RTL

Firmware

Manufacturing test

Cross‑functional leadership

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Quartus tool flow

Job description

About Altera

Altera™, our independence as the world’s largest pure‑play FPGA solutions provider gives us the focus, speed, and agility to innovate without compromise. With more than four decades of industry‑leading FPGA expertise, our singular mission is to deliver the programmable technologies that help customers differentiate, innovate, and scale across rapidly evolving markets like AI, cloud, networking, and edge. As an independent company, we move faster, invest deeper, and partner more closely—empowering our teams to drive breakthrough innovation and shape the future of the FPGA industry.

Role Overview

Seeking a Senior FPGA Development Kit Technical Lead Engineer with 10+ years of experience leading the end‑to‑end development and execution of complex FPGA development platforms and evaluation kits. In this role, you will serve as a senior technical and program leader responsible for driving development kit execution across board architecture, RTL, firmware, platform engineering, functional validation, manufacturing, and supply chain activities. You will coordinate closely with internal engineering organizations, offshore design centers, external design partners, ODM/JDMs, contract manufacturers, and global suppliers to deliver high-quality development kits on schedule and at target cost. The ideal candidate brings strong technical depth in FPGA‑based platforms and board development, combined with the ability to drive complex, cross‑functional programs from architecture and design through validation, manufacturing, and production. This role requires a highly collaborative technical leader who can identify and resolve execution risks, influence engineering decisions, and improve development kit processes and platform robustness across multiple product generations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end development of Altera FPGA Development Kits with board architecture, RTL, and firmware teams, in partnership with offshore design centers, design partners, and ODM/JDM teams across the US and Asia.
• Lead development kit manufacturing execution with contract manufacturers, component suppliers, PCB fabricators, and PCB assembly partners across the US and Asia.
• Drive BOM planning and cost optimization, while managing part availability, supply risk, component obsolescence, and engineering change orders for new and existing Altera FPGA development kits.
• Serve as the central point of contact across cross‑functional teams, including architecture, development kit functional validation, firmware, RTL‑based manufacturing test development, manufacturing, and customer engineering.
• Use lessons learned and stakeholder feedback to improve design methods, execution efficiency, and overall platform robustness.

Salary Range

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. $166,900 - $241,000 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. #LI-MD1

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field, with 10+ years of professional engineering experience in FPGA platforms, development or evaluation kits, board development, test engineering, or closely related areas.
• 10+ years of hands‑on experience working with digital and analog/RF circuits, FPGA‑based boards, development or evaluation kits, or complex hardware platforms, with demonstrated understanding of board‑level functional and system‑level test methodologies.
• 10+ years of experience applying analytical and structured problem‑solving skills to resolve complex technical challenges, with demonstrated success leading cross‑functional teams through technical issues, program execution risks, and hardware development challenges.
• 10+ years of experience working with FPGA development, board‑level hardware, RTL, firmware, or hardware test environments, with working knowledge of the Altera Quartus tool flow.
• Experience with board‑level manufacturing test, HDMI, SDI, multi‑gigabit Ethernet, Altera FPGA gigabit transceivers, DDR5/LPDDR5 or beyond FPGA memory, and PCIe interfaces is highly desirable.
• 10+ years of experience communicating and collaborating effectively across global, cross‑functional engineering organizations, including hardware, RTL, firmware, validation, manufacturing, suppliers, and external design partners.
• 10+ years of engineering experience, including demonstrated experience mentoring engineers, providing technical guidance, driving collaboration, and contributing to high‑performing engineering teams.

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.

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.