FPGA and Emulation Prototyping Engineer - MCU

Job Title

FPGA and Emulation Prototyping Engineer - MCU

Role Summary

Hands-on engineering role to develop, bring-up and maintain FPGA and emulation-based pre-silicon platforms to enable early software development, system validation and verification for microcontroller SoCs. The role works within the MCU hardware design team and partners with RTL designers, verification and software teams.

Experience Level

Mid-level - typically requires around 5+ years of relevant emulation/FPGA prototyping experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities focus on building and operating emulation and FPGA prototype platforms and enabling cross-functional teams to use them effectively.

• Develop, bring-up and maintain emulation/FPGA prototyping platforms (e.g., HAPS-100, Veloce, Palladium, ZeBu or large FPGA prototypes).
• Integrate and debug RTL blocks on FPGA platforms (Xilinx, Intel/Altera).
• Collaborate with design, verification and software teams to bring up and validate emulation environments.
• Optimize FPGA resource usage and achieve timing closure for large designs.
• Provide early hardware access to software teams and support system-level use cases.
• Automate build, deployment and test flows using scripting (Python, Tcl, Shell).
• Document flows, debug procedures and provide training/support to internal teams.
• Define test strategy and develop tests addressing functional and performance requirements.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and practical experience to perform the role; nice-to-have items listed separately.

• Must-have: 5+ years hands-on experience in FPGA prototyping and emulation for IP/SoC development.
• Must-have: Strong digital design fundamentals and experience with Verilog/SystemVerilog and working knowledge of C/C++.
• Must-have: Experience with FPGA toolchains such as Vivado, Quartus or Synplify.
• Must-have: Proficiency in scripting for automation (Python, Perl, Tcl, Shell).
• Must-have: Good debugging, problem-solving, communication and teamwork skills.
• Nice-to-have: Familiarity with emulation platforms (Veloce, HAPS-100, Palladium, ZeBu) and experience with ARM or RISC-V core architectures.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.

About the Company

Company: NXP Semiconductors

Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.