Senior Lead Emulation / FPGA Prototyping Engineer

Job Title

Senior Lead Emulation / FPGA Prototyping Engineer

Role Summary

Lead development and execution of FPGA-based prototyping and emulation platforms for pre‑silicon validation of microcontroller SoCs. Work with RTL designers, verification and software teams to enable early software development and system-level validation.

Define and implement a long-term Pre‑Si strategy for emulation/FPGA prototyping, and optimize and automate the emulation infrastructure to speed validation across hardware, firmware and software teams.

Experience Level

Senior-level. The posting requests experienced candidates, with preferred experience ranges noted as 8–15 years (the technical section also references 6–12 years of hands-on FPGA prototyping experience).

Responsibilities

Primary duties include platform development, integration, and support for pre‑silicon validation:

• Develop and maintain emulation and FPGA prototype platforms (HAPS, Veloce, Palladium, ZeBu or FPGA-based) for IP, subsystem and SoC validation.
• Port, integrate and debug RTL/IP/Subsystems on FPGA platforms (Xilinx, Intel/Altera) and resolve timing/resource issues.
• Create and execute system-level use cases, test plans and test code to validate functional and performance requirements.
• Optimize FPGA resource usage and achieve timing closure for large-scale designs.
• Automate build, deployment and bring-up flows using scripting (Python, Tcl, Shell).
• Provide early hardware access and support to software teams; document flows and provide training/support to internal teams.
• Operate and use validation equipment such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes and protocol analyzers.

Requirements

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

• Extensive hands-on experience in FPGA prototyping/emulation for large IP/subsystem/SoC designs (senior-level experience expected).
• Strong digital design fundamentals and RTL expertise (Verilog / SystemVerilog).
• Experience with FPGA toolchains and flows (Vivado, Quartus, Synplify) and Xilinx/Intel devices.
• Practical experience with industry emulation platforms (Veloce, HAPS-100, Palladium, ZeBu) and large-scale bring-up.
• Proficiency in scripting for automation and build flows (Python, Tcl, Shell); strong debugging and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with C/C++ for bring-up and support of software teams is useful.
• Experience with ARM or RISC-V core architectures is an advantage.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or a related technical field (specified in the posting). No certifications or explicit "equivalent experience" language was provided.

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.