Senior Lead Engineer - Design and Architecture

191 Altera Corporation; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 232,000 - 330,000; Full time

Job summary

Altera is seeking a Senior Lead Engineer, Design and Architecture to provide technical leadership for the architecture and development of high-performance silicon and platform subsystems across our programmable device portfolio. This hands-on architect will define complex SoC and interconnect solutions, guiding execution from concept through production silicon.

The role requires deep expertise in ASIC/SoC architecture, high-bandwidth interconnect, memory systems, and networking or

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or Computer Science with 15+ years in semiconductor/SoC/FPGA product development.
• Experience defining and delivering complex silicon architectures from concept through production.
• Deep expertise in on-chip networks, memory hierarchy, cache coherency, and high-performance networking datapaths.
• Experience across silicon development lifecycle with design, verification, emulation, physical design, DFT, firmware/software, and post-silicon teams.

Responsibilities

• Define system, subsystem, and microarchitecture for complex SoC and ASIC platforms with emphasis on high-performance interconnect, data movement, memory hierarchy, and scalable compute or networking subsystems.
• Lead architecture exploration and make technically sound tradeoffs across performance, power, area, bandwidth, latency, reliability, scalability, cost, and schedule.
• Develop architectural specifications, performance models, and implementation plans that align requirements across hardware, firmware, software, validation, and product teams.
• Own key architecture and design decisions through the full silicon lifecycle: concept, microarchitecture, RTL, integration, verification, emulation, implementation, bring-up, performance debug, and production readiness.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership for on-chip networks, routing and arbitration, flow control, cache or memory-coherency mechanisms, memory subsystems, and high-speed interfaces, as applicable to the product roadmap.
• Drive cross-functional resolution of complex technical issues, using data and rigorous analysis to identify root cause, evaluate alternatives, and close critical architectural or execution risks.
• Partner with design, verification, physical design, DFT, firmware, software, product engineering, and manufacturing teams to ensure architecture intent is preserved through implementation and silicon validation.
• Establish and improve scalable design and verification methodologies, automation, and quality practices that increase engineering velocity, predictability, and first-pass silicon success.
• Mentor senior engineers and technical leads, raise the technical bar through reviews and design guidance, and influence engineering direction across multiple teams and product generations.
• Engage with internal and external partners, including IP, EDA, and foundry providers, as needed to inform architecture, implementation strategy, and roadmap planning.

Skills

ASIC/SoC architecture

High-bandwidth interconnect

Memory hierarchy

Networking / infrastructure silicon

RTL design

Verification

Post-silicon validation

SystemVerilog

Python automation

Architecture modeling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or Computer Science

Tools

SystemVerilog

Simulation

Formal verification

Emulation

Equivalence checking

Synthesis

Static timing analysis

Implementation flows

Job description

Job Details: Job Description

Altera is seeking a Senior Lead Engineer, Design and Architecture to provide technical leadership for the architecture and development of high-performance silicon and platform subsystems across our programmable device portfolio. This is a senior individual-contributor role for a hands-on architect and design leader who can define complex SoC and interconnect solutions, drive critical design decisions, and guide execution from early concept through production silicon. The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in ASIC/SoC architecture, high-bandwidth interconnect, memory systems, and networking or infrastructure-class silicon. They will partner closely with architecture, RTL design, verification, emulation, physical design, software, and post-silicon teams to deliver scalable, performant, and manufacturable solutions for AI, cloud, networking, and edge applications.

Responsibilities

• Define system, subsystem, and microarchitecture for complex SoC, ASIC, and FPGA-adjacent platforms, with emphasis on high-performance interconnect, data movement, memory hierarchy, and scalable compute or networking subsystems.
• Lead architecture exploration and make technically sound tradeoffs across performance, power, area, bandwidth, latency, reliability, scalability, cost, and schedule.
• Develop architectural specifications, performance models, and implementation plans that align requirements across hardware, firmware, software, validation, and product teams.
• Own key architecture and design decisions through the full silicon lifecycle: concept, microarchitecture, RTL, integration, verification, emulation, implementation, bring-up, performance debug, and production readiness.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership for on-chip networks, routing and arbitration, flow control, cache or memory-coherency mechanisms, memory subsystems, and high-speed interfaces, as applicable to the product roadmap.
• Drive cross-functional resolution of complex technical issues, using data and rigorous analysis to identify root cause, evaluate alternatives, and close critical architectural or execution risks.
• Partner with design, verification, physical design, DFT, firmware, software, product engineering, and manufacturing teams to ensure architecture intent is preserved through implementation and silicon validation.
• Establish and improve scalable design and verification methodologies, automation, and quality practices that increase engineering velocity, predictability, and first-pass silicon success.
• Mentor senior engineers and technical leads, raise the technical bar through reviews and design guidance, and influence engineering direction across multiple teams and product generations.
• Engage with internal and external partners, including IP, EDA, and foundry providers, as needed to inform architecture, implementation strategy, and roadmap planning.

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. $231,500 - $330,000

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, with 15+ years of experience in semiconductor, ASIC, SoC, or FPGA product development.
• Demonstrated experience defining and delivering complex silicon architectures from concept through production, including architecture, microarchitecture, RTL design, verification, integration, and post-silicon validation.
• Deep expertise in one or more of the following: on-chip networks, coherent or non-coherent interconnect, memory hierarchy, cache coherency, high-performance networking datapaths, packet processing, or infrastructure-class SoC design.
• Strong understanding of architectural tradeoffs involving bandwidth, latency, congestion, throughput, power, area, timing, and reliability.
• Experience working across the silicon development lifecycle with design, verification, emulation, physical design, DFT, firmware/software, and post-silicon teams.
• Proven technical leadership in driving complex cross-functional decisions, resolving ambiguous problems, and influencing engineering teams without direct management authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience delivering advanced-node, high-complexity SoCs or ASICs into production for networking, cloud, AI/ML, communications, storage, security, or data-center infrastructure applications.
• Experience architecting scalable Network-on-Chip or fabric solutions, including topology, routing, arbitration, quality of service, traffic management, credit-based flow control, and performance analysis.
• Experience with memory systems, cache hierarchy, coherency protocols, HBM/DDR integration, or high-bandwidth data movement.
• Working knowledge of RTL and verification methodologies, such as SystemVerilog, simulation, formal verification, emulation, or equivalence checking, and familiarity with synthesis, static timing, and implementation flows.
• Experience with architecture modeling, performance analysis, Python-based automation, or AI-assisted engineering workflows that improve specification quality, debug, or design productivity.
• Experience with programmable logic devices, heterogeneous SoC platforms, or the integration of hard and soft IP across multiple product generations.
• Record of technical innovation demonstrated through patents, publications, major product contributions, or industry leadership.

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.