Staff Electrical Engineer - FPGA

Activate; San Leandro (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

SirenOpt is seeking a Staff Electrical Engineer to lead FPGA/MPSoC and DSP system development for a next-generation metrology platform. The role involves architecture, RTL, verification, and hardware-software integration in a hands-on startup setting.

You will work with a small, capable team to turn advanced sensing and control concepts into robust, high-performance digital systems, using MATLAB and Python for analysis and validation.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of relevant industry experience with FPGA/MPSoC design.
• Experience in real-time DSP for high-performance systems.
• Proficient in MATLAB and Python for modeling and analysis.
• Strong HDL/RTL implementation and board bring-up skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, design, implementation and validation of FPGA/MPSoC DSP systems.
• Develop designs from concept through RTL development, simulation, and bring-up.
• Build verification environments for timing, performance, and reliability.
• Design FPGA DSP pipelines for real-time sensing and metrology apps.
• Implement PID/ADPLL and signal-conditioning methods for high-performance systems.
• Use MATLAB and Python for algorithm development and data analysis.
• Collaborate with hardware, software, algorithm, and systems engineers.
• Read schematics and bring up new boards; troubleshoot firmware/hardware.
• Translate frontier R&D into manufacturable digital systems.

Skills

FPGA design

MPSoC architecture

DSP system design

HDL/RTL

MATLAB

Python

Firmware/hardware integration

Board bring-up

Education

Bachelor/Master/PhD in Electrical Engineering or related

Tools

HDL/RTL tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Schematic reading tools

Job description

Staff Electrical Engineer – FPGA / MPSoC Systems & Digital Signal Processing

Location: On-site, San Leandro, CA
Job Type: Full-time

About SirenOpt

SirenOpt helps manufacturers make better, safer, and more reliable micro- and nano-materials. These materials are the building blocks of critical sectors of the global economy such as batteries, computer chips, aircraft components, and power systems. But, surging material demand and growing complexity are pushing production to unprecedented scales and speeds, leaving manufacturers effectively flying blind. Small, undetected variations during production lead to wastage, lower performance, higher costs, and safety risks.

SirenOpt is changing this. Our manufacturing intelligence platform scans materials, revealing critical internal information without damaging them. Using a novel combination of cold atmospheric plasma, physics-informed machine learning, and predictive analytics, SirenOpt creates unique, real-time fingerprints that capture material signals no other method can access. These insights give manufacturers unprecedented visibility into how materials behave as they are made.

We turn hidden data into actionable intelligence to help manufacturers reduce variability and thus increase yield and performance. The technology can be deployed as a standalone tool or integrated directly into factory production lines. SirenOpt is currently deploying early versions of our platform with some of the largest industrial manufacturers in the world across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Role Overview

SirenOpt is looking for a Staff Electrical Engineer – FPGA / MPSoC & Digital Signal Processing Systems to lead the architecture, design, implementation, and validation of high-performance programmable logic, embedded processing, and FPGA-based digital signal processing systems powering our next-generation metrology platform.

This is a hands-on, high-impact role for someone who enjoys working close to the technology, solving hard problems quickly, and helping shape products in an early-stage startup environment.

This role is ideal for an engineer who is energized by deep tech, thrives in cross-functional environments, and is motivated by the opportunity to build something genuinely new.

You will work closely with a small, highly capable team to turn advanced sensing, digital signal processing, and control concepts into robust, high-performance, field-ready systems.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the architecture, design, implementation, and validation of FPGA, MPSoC, and FPGA-based digital signal processing systems for SirenOpt’s metrology platform.

• Develop designs from concept through architecture definition, RTL development, modeling, simulation, verification, testbench development, bench testing, and system bring-up.

• Build and maintain robust simulation and verification environments to validate functionality, timing, performance, and reliability at both block and system levels.

• Design and implement FPGA-based digital signal processing pipelines for real-time sensing and metrology applications, including FIR filters, synchronization pipelines, control loops, and low-latency data paths.

• Implement, evaluate, and refine signal-processing and control algorithms such as PID, ADPLL, filtering, and signal-conditioning methods for high-performance measurement systems.

• Use MATLAB and Python for algorithm development, modeling, data analysis, system validation, and signal and electrical data characterization.

• Perform large-scale data analysis to evaluate signal quality, characterize system behavior, and guide design tradeoffs and performance optimization.

• Collaborate closely with hardware, electrical, software, algorithm, and systems engineers, to support end-to-end FPGA, MPSoC, firmware, and hardware integration.

• Read and interpret schematics to understand board-level architecture, interfaces, signal paths, power domains, and subsystem dependencies.

• Bring up new boards in the lab, troubleshoot issues independently, and debug hardware/firmware interactions using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, signal generators, power supplies, and related lab equipment.

• Help translate frontier R&D concepts into scalable, reliable, and manufacturable digital systems.

What We’re Looking For

• B.S., M.S., or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, with 5+ years of relevant industry experience.

• Strong experience with end-to-end FPGA and MPSoC design, including architecture, RTL development, simulation, synthesis, timing closure, verification, and board bring-up.

• Advanced experience with FPGA-based digital signal processing for real-time systems, including FIR filters, synchronization methods, streaming pipelines, and control-oriented digital design.

• Strong experience with algorithm modeling and analysis using MATLAB and Python.

• Experience implementing and validating signal-processing and control techniques such as PID, ADPLL, filtering, and signal characterization workflows.

• Strong command of HDL/RTL implementation for digital signal processing, control, and high-performance data-path design.

• Hands-on experience developing testbenches, verification environments, and bench-level validation workflows.

• Strong understanding of firmware/hardware integration and system-level debugging in tightly coupled digital platforms.

• Ability to read and understand electrical schematics and work effectively at the board and subsystem level.

• Proven experience troubleshooting and bringing up hardware in the lab using standard electrical test equipment.

• Experience working in a fast-moving, multidisciplinary environment with a high degree of ownership and technical independence.

• Strong communication skills and a practical, problem-solving mindset.

Nice to Have

• Experience providing technical leadership for hardware and firmware engineering teams in complex product development environments.

• Experience with image processing or vision-related algorithm pipelines.

• PCB design experience, including familiarity with board-level layout considerations and signal integrity tradeoffs.

• Experience with high-speed interfaces, instrumentation systems, or real-time sensing platforms.

• Familiarity with mixed-signal systems and integration with ADCs, DACs, sensors, and embedded processors.

• Exposure to metrology systems, scientific instrumentation, or advanced materials applications.

Why Join SirenOpt

• Help define a new category in advanced materials metrology.

• Work on genuinely novel deep-tech hardware with real scientific and industrial impact.

• Join an early-stage team where your decisions directly shape the product, technology, and company.

• Build systems at the intersection of plasma science, electronics, sensing, AI-driven analytics, programmable logic, and advanced digital signal processing.

• Contribute to technology that can expand what researchers and industry teams are able to see, measure, and optimize.