FPGA Engineer, MQS Center for Quantum Computing

Job Title

FPGA Engineer, MQS Center for Quantum Computing

Role Summary

The FPGA Engineer will design and integrate RTL and embedded software for the MQS Center's quantum control platform, focusing on the hardware/software interface to meet latency, bandwidth, and resource constraints. The role supports experimental quantum computing tasks such as device characterization, calibration, and enabling real-time error-correction protocols.

This position is on-site at the Caltech campus in Pasadena, CA and reports to the Software team within the MQS Center for Quantum Computing.

Experience Level

Mid-level. The role expects 3+ years of FPGA development and 3+ years of professional software development experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include designing, implementing, and validating FPGA and embedded software components for a quantum control platform.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to define and refine hardware/software requirements.
• Propose and implement architectural and micro-architectural updates to the control platform.
• Implement RTL subsystems in Verilog or SystemVerilog.
• Develop embedded software in C, C++, or Rust for near-real-time tasks.
• Verify and validate designs in simulation and in bench-top/real-world conditions.
• Integrate new features into the team's Python-based experimental software stack.
• Perform hardware bring-up, debugging, and coordinate feature rollouts with internal teams.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience.

• 3+ years of professional software development experience (non-internship).
• 3+ years of industry FPGA development experience.
• 2+ years developing embedded software in C, C++, or Rust.
• Familiarity with scripting languages (bash, TCL, Python, etc.).
• Experience with hardware bring-up and debugging (Ethernet adapters, SPI/I2C devices, etc.).
• Experience with standard communication interfaces: USB, PCIe, Ethernet.
• Strong engineering fundamentals, problem-solving, and communication skills; ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with soft-core RISC-V implementations.
• Experience with Xilinx SoC platforms (e.g., MPSoC) and high-level synthesis tools.
• Experience developing RTOS applications and low-level device drivers or kernel code on ARM/Xilinx platforms.
• Experience with high-performance networking (DPDK, RDMA) and low-latency distributed computation.
• Knowledge of Linux kernel internals and networking or storage subsystem architecture.

Education Requirements

Required: Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field. Preferred: M.Sc. (or equivalent) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or Computer Science. The posting allows foreign equivalents.

About the Company

Company: Amazon

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

Amazon is a global leader in e-commerce and cloud computing, committed to delivering fast, reliable services across diverse sectors. The company's innovative technologies include AWS, Kindle, and Echo, as well as developing low Earth orbit satellite networks for improved internet connectivity worldwide.