Lead Design Evaluation Engineer

Job Title

Lead Design Evaluation Engineer

Role Summary

Senior technical role on the Automotive Networking team responsible for defining and executing evaluation strategies for FPGA prototypes and automotive networking ASICs from bring-up through system-level validation, characterisation, and release readiness.

Work with design, verification, systems, software, and product teams to identify risks, resolve issues, and ensure silicon and platforms meet requirements. May require approximately 10% travel.

Experience Level

Senior - typically 7+ years of relevant experience in design evaluation, silicon validation, product or systems engineering.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include planning, developing, and executing reproducible evaluation and validation for silicon and FPGA platforms.

• Define evaluation strategies, test plans, coverage goals, methodologies, and release criteria for FPGA prototypes and ASICs.
• Translate product and system requirements into measurable laboratory tests (functional, performance, interoperability, robustness, corner cases).
• Architect, build, bring up, and maintain hardware/software evaluation platforms, test fixtures, and supporting infrastructure.
• Develop modular test and automation software in C and Python for instrument control, data acquisition, regression execution, and reporting.
• Execute and analyse silicon and FPGA test cases; debug failures across hardware, firmware, software, interfaces, and system boundaries.
• Perform electrical and functional measurements using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, signal generators, and power supplies.
• Lead root-cause investigations, document findings, and drive cross-functional issue resolution.
• Evaluate Automotive Ethernet (including 10BASE-T1S) behaviour, data-path performance, timing, error handling, diagnostics, and interoperability.
• Produce system-level hardware, embedded software, test procedures, application examples, and technical reports to support evaluation.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring; lead design/code reviews and contribute to planning and prioritisation.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, tools, and experience required to perform the role.

• Seven or more years of relevant experience in design evaluation, silicon validation, or equivalent roles.
• Proven experience evaluating FPGA prototypes and performing bench validation or characterisation of ASICs.
• Strong proficiency in C and Python for test, automation, or embedded software development.
• Experience with embedded systems, digital hardware, laboratory measurement techniques, and hardware/software integration.
• Ability to diagnose complex issues using structured debugging, root-cause analysis, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Experience capturing, processing, and presenting technical data with emphasis on accuracy, repeatability, and traceability.
• Working knowledge of Ethernet and networking concepts and experience with serial interfaces such as SPI, I2C, and UART.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for technical reporting and presenting findings.
• Demonstrated technical leadership, collaboration, and ownership across cross-functional teams.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.

About the Company

Company: Analog Devices

Headquarters: Norwood, Massachusetts, USA

Analog Devices is a leading global semiconductor company that bridges the physical and digital worlds, enabling breakthroughs at the Intelligent Edge. With a focus on innovation, ADI develops solutions that drive advancements in digitized factories, mobility, and digital healthcare. The company employs around 24,000 people globally and reported revenues exceeding $9 billion in FY24, creating technologies that transform lives across various sectors.