Senior FPGA Prototyping Engineer - Hardware

Job Title

Senior FPGA Prototyping Engineer - Hardware

Role Summary

Design, build, and deliver FPGA prototypes of next-generation GPUs and SoCs using standard FPGA prototyping platforms. The role focuses on making RTL FPGA-friendly, performing synthesis/place-and-route, timing optimization, bring-up, and customer support.

Work closely with architects, designers, verification, and software teams; position is onsite in Santa Clara, CA.

Experience Level

Senior - senior-level FPGA prototyping role. Typical experience expectation: roughly 10–12+ years in FPGA prototyping or related engineering roles.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include delivering production-quality FPGA prototypes and supporting their use by internal customers.

• Make RTL FPGA-friendly, partition large designs for prototyping, and drive synthesis, place-and-route, and timing closure.
• Optimize prototype performance, analyze timing, and generate bitstreams for target FPGA platforms.
• Bring up designs on FPGA prototyping hardware and debug complex implementation issues.
• Develop and modify bring-up and test infrastructure; verify functional and timing correctness of prototypes.
• Release prototypes to internal customers and provide ongoing support and troubleshooting.
• Coordinate implementation and debugging with architects, designers, verification, and software teams.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and practical experience for day-to-day execution.

• Deep understanding of FPGA prototyping architecture, devices, flows, and tooling.
• Experience with backend FPGA prototyping flows: synthesis, place & route, and timing closure; familiarity with tools such as Synopsys Protocompiler, Siemens VPS, and Xilinx Vivado.
• Familiarity with ASIC design and verification tooling (for example: VCS or equivalent, Verdi, GDB).
• Proficient in Verilog/SystemVerilog and core digital design concepts.
• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills, including lab FPGA debug methodologies and tools (Identify or ChipScope) and lab equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers).

Nice-to-have:

• Scripting skills (Perl, shell, Tcl) to automate flows and bring-up tasks.
• Experience with memory bring-up (LPDDR5/6, DDR5/6), CXL/PCIe, or high-speed interfaces such as USB4/3.
• Prior experience with hardware emulation or prototyping platforms (Synopsys HAPS, Siemens ProFPGA) and high-performance processor or SoC prototyping.
• Good documentation, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Education Requirements

BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience) with ~12+ years of relevant experience; or MS in a related field with ~10+ years of relevant experience. The posting explicitly permits equivalent practical experience in lieu of a degree.

About the Company

Company: NVIDIA

Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, USA

NVIDIA is a global leader in accelerated computing, renowned for its innovative solutions in AI and digital twins that transform diverse industries. The company specializes in networking technologies, providing end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions for servers and storage that optimize performance and scalability. NVIDIA serves sectors such as high-performance computing, enterprise data centers, and cloud computing, constantly reinventing its products and services to stay ahead in the market.