Staff Application Engineer- FPGA

Synopsys, Inc.; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Synopsys, Inc. is seeking a technically credible professional to lead pre-sales engagements around FPGA prototyping platforms such as ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS.

You will map customer design validation challenges, present tailored verification solutions, and drive proof-of-concept evaluations with hands-on demonstrations. You will work closely with sales to shape deals, travel to customer sites, and build trusted adviser relationships with architects and engineering leaders, accelerating decisions

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 5-6 years of hands-on experience in emulation, FPGA-based prototyping, ASIC design, or SoC validation, with deep understanding of RTL-to-hardware workflows and design challenges.
• Strong command of FPGA architectures such as Xilinx or Intel, RTL design in Verilog or VHDL, synthesis flows, and hardware bring-up and debug.
• Comfort with travel to customer sites for evaluations, presentations, and technical engagements.
• Experience with ZS5, ZeBu, HAPS platforms, or ProtoCompiler is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead pre-sales technical engagements for ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS FPGA prototyping platforms, working directly with prospective customers to understand their SoC, GPU, and AI design validation challenges
• Present tailored hardware assisted verification solutions that address customer-specific needs around partitioning, performance, debug, and integration with their existing design flows
• Conduct technical evaluations, proof-of-concept projects, and benchmarks that demonstrate how Synopsys platforms solve the customer's real problems, not just theoretical capabilities
• Deploy AI-based hardware assisted verification platforms at customer sites, guiding their teams through setup, configuration, and early adoption
• Collaborate closely with the sales team to shape opportunity strategy, qualify technical fit, handle objections, and move deals through the pipeline
• Deliver compelling product demonstrations, technical presentations, and architecture reviews to engineering teams and executive stakeholders
• Build and maintain trusted advisor relationships with customer architects and engineering leaders that extend beyond individual sales cycles

Skills

FPGA prototyping

RTL design (Verilog/VHDL)

Emulation platforms

Customer engagement

Willingness to travel

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electronics/Computer Engineering

Tools

ZS5

ZeBu-200

HAPS

ProtoCompiler

Job description

We Are

Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.

You Are

When you walk into a customer meeting with a sales team, you listen first. You map their design challenges, their timeline pressure, their past tool frustrations, and you shape your technical approach around what will actually move them forward. You have debugged enough FPGA prototypes to know where customers get stuck, partitioning that does not scale, clock domain issues that surface at bring-up, debug flows that eat weeks, and you use that knowledge to de-risk their evaluation and accelerate their decision.

You are not just technically strong, you are technically credible in the room. Customers trust you because you have been in the trenches with RTL synthesis, FPGA bring-up, and SoC validation. You know what a real prototype timeline looks like, and you can tell when a customer is being optimistic or when they are about to hit a wall. That instinct lets you design solutions that actually fit their world, not just check feature boxes.

At Synopsys, you will work at the intersection of cutting-edge emulation and prototyping platforms like ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS, helping customers solve validation problems that directly impact their product schedules. The deals you help close matter, and the relationships you build will last beyond any single engagement.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead pre-sales technical engagements for ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS FPGA prototyping platforms, working directly with prospective customers to understand their SoC, GPU, and AI design validation challenges
• Present tailored hardware assisted verification solutions that address customer-specific needs around partitioning, performance, debug, and integration with their existing design flows
• Conduct technical evaluations, proof-of-concept projects, and benchmarks that demonstrate how Synopsys platforms solve the customer's real problems, not just theoretical capabilities
• Deploy AI-based hardware assisted verification platforms at customer sites, guiding their teams through setup, configuration, and early adoption
• Collaborate closely with the sales team to shape opportunity strategy, qualify technical fit, handle objections, and move deals through the pipeline
• Deliver compelling product demonstrations, technical presentations, and architecture reviews to engineering teams and executive stakeholders
• Build and maintain trusted advisor relationships with customer architects and engineering leaders that extend beyond individual sales cycles

The Impact You Will Have

• Your technical credibility and solution design will directly win competitive deals, growing ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS revenue and expanding Synopsys footprint in strategic accounts
• Proof-of-concept work you lead will de-risk customer decisions and shorten sales cycles by proving value early and clearly
• Solutions you architect will set customers up for long-term success, reducing post-sale friction and creating expansion opportunities
• Customer insights you bring back will shape product roadmap priorities and help R&D build features that win in the field
• Relationships you establish with key technical buyers will open doors for the sales team and create multi-year partnership opportunities
• Technical content and competitive positioning you develop will strengthen the entire field team's ability to sell HAPS and emulation platforms effectively
• Your ability to translate complex prototyping challenges into clear business value will elevate how customers perceive Synopsys technical leadership

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's or Master's in Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
• 5-6 years of hands-on experience in emulation, FPGA-based prototyping, ASIC design, or SoC validation, with deep understanding of RTL-to-hardware workflows and design challenges
• Strong command of FPGA architectures such as Xilinx or Intel, RTL design in Verilog or VHDL, synthesis flows, and hardware bring-up and debug
• Comfort with travel to customer sites for evaluations, presentations, and technical engagements
• Experience with ZS5, ZeBu, HAPS platforms, or ProtoCompiler is a strong plus

Who You Are

• You can walk into a first meeting with a prospective customer, ask three good questions, and leave with a clear picture of what they need to see in order to move forward
• When a customer raises a technical objection or competitive comparison, you address it directly with specifics, real data, real tradeoffs, no deflection or vague promises
• You work seamlessly with sales, you understand their goals, you communicate pipeline status clearly, and you help them shape deals without waiting to be asked
• You present technical content in a way that lands with different audiences, whether you are walking an engineer through a partitioning flow or explaining prototype ROI to a program manager
• You stay organized across multiple active opportunities, managing evaluations, follow-ups, and deliverables without letting anything fall through the cracks
• You care about winning, but you care just as much about winning the right way, setting up customers for success so they come back and expand

The Team You'll Be Part Of

Your recruiter will share more about the team structure and mission during the interview process.