FPGA Prototyping Applications Engineer

Job Title

FPGA Prototyping Applications Engineer

Role Summary

Work on Synplify FPGA synthesis, ProtoCompiler, and Zebu to validate features, improve quality-of-results, and support customers through documentation and reproducible validation. The role combines hands-on FPGA implementation validation, debugging, and authoring application notes that guide field engineers and customers.

Experience Level

Mid-level. The role expects approximately 5+ years of relevant hands-on experience in logic design and FPGA implementation.

Responsibilities

Primary day-to-day responsibilities include validating features, debugging, and producing customer-facing guidance.

• Validate new features in Synplify, ProtoCompiler, and Zebu from a customer/use-case perspective.
• Analyze synthesis runs and propose concrete recommendations to improve timing, area, and power.
• Design and run test benches in Verilog and VHDL that exercise edge cases and stress tool limits.
• Author clear application notes and technical articles that explain flows, troubleshooting, and feature usage.
• Work with R&D to translate field findings into product improvements and take features through validation to release sign-off.
• Diagnose synthesis, back-end flow, and FPGA architecture issues during validation or customer escalations.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience; nice-to-have items listed separately.

• Must-have: 5+ years hands-on experience in logic design and FPGA implementation from RTL through hardware bring-up.
• Must-have: Strong practical verification experience and ability to write effective test benches that catch real issues.
• Must-have: Proficiency reading and writing Verilog and VHDL.
• Must-have: Solid experience with synthesis tools, back-end FPGA flows, and FPGA architecture with demonstrated timing-closure experience on real designs.
• Nice-to-have: Experience with Xilinx or Altera (Intel) synthesis software.
• Nice-to-have: Scripting for automation and analysis in Python, Tcl, or Perl.
• Must-have: Ability to debug across RTL, tool logs, and FPGA architecture and to produce reproducible test cases and clear documentation.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field is specified.

About the Company

Company: Synopsys

Headquarters: Mountain View, California, USA

Synopsys is a leading company in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP solutions. It provides tools and services for designing and verifying complex semiconductor devices and systems. The company plays a pivotal role in the semiconductor industry, helping engineers innovate and deliver higher-quality products faster. Synopsys is committed to advancing technology standards and offers a range of software and hardware solutions to its clients globally.