Field Applications Engineer (FAE)

Altera Corporation

$187K — $270K *
Telecommunications & Hardware
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
  • 10+ years of experience in FPGA design, digital logic design, embedded systems, or applications engineering.
  • Strong proficiency in RTL (Verilog/VHDL), timing analysis, synthesis, and FPGA implementation flows.
  • Experience with high-speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR, Ethernet), embedded processors, or board-level design.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and customer-facing skills.
  • Ability to travel to customer sites as needed.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the primary technical interface for customers evaluating and designing with Altera FPGAs, SoCs, IP, and software tools.
  • Understand customer architectures and recommend optimal device families and development flows.
  • Deliver tailored technical presentations, hands-on workshops, and product demonstrations to customers.
  • Support customers throughout the design cycle from concept to board bring-up.
  • Troubleshoot complex issues involving FPGA logic, high-speed interfaces, and power architectures.
  • Develop reference designs and best-practice guides to enhance customer success.
  • Collaborate with sales teams on opportunity qualification and technical strategy.

Benefits

  • Flexible work environment to support work-life balance.
  • Professional development opportunities through mentorship and technical enablement programs.
  • Exposure to cutting-edge technology in AI/ML and high-performance computing.
  • Participation in industry events and technical conferences.
  • Collaborative culture that emphasizes cross-functional teamwork.
Full Job Description
Job Details:

Job Description:

Altera is seeking a highly skilled Field Applications Engineer (FAE) to support customers adopting our industry-leading FPGA, SoC, and embedded solutions.

In this role, you will partner closely with customers, sales teams, and product engineering to drive successful design-ins, accelerate time-to-market, and ensure customers realize the full value of Altera's technology portfolio.

This is a customer-facing, technically deep role ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex system-level challenges and influencing next-generation semiconductor designs.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Engagement & Technical Leadership
  • Serve as the primary technical interface for customers evaluating and designing with Altera FPGAs, SoCs, IP, and software tools.
  • Understand customer architectures, performance requirements, and design constraints to recommend optimal device families, IP blocks, and development flows.
  • Deliver technical presentations, hands-on workshops, and product demonstrations tailored to customer needs.
  • Guide customers through feasibility analysis, device selection, and early-stage design decisions.


Design-In Support & Problem Solving
  • Support customers through the full design cycle - from concept and RTL development to timing closure, power optimization, and board bring-up.
  • Troubleshoot complex issues involving FPGA logic, embedded processors, high-speed interfaces, memory subsystems, and power architectures.
  • Develop reference designs, application notes, and best-practice guides to accelerate customer success.
  • Collaborate with internal engineering teams to reproduce issues, validate fixes, and influence roadmap priorities.


Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Partner with sales teams to support opportunity qualification, competitive positioning, and technical strategy.
  • Provide structured feedback to product management and engineering on customer requirements, emerging use cases, and competitive trends.
  • Represent Altera at customer meetings, industry events, and technical conferences.


Technical Expertise & Thought Leadership
  • Maintain deep knowledge of Altera's FPGA architectures, Quartus toolchain, IP portfolio, and embedded software ecosystem.
  • Stay current on industry trends in AI/ML acceleration, high-performance compute, networking, automotive, and industrial applications.
  • Mentor internal teams and contribute to technical enablement programs.


Salary Range

The compensation below is reflective of a sales role that includes a salary + incentive. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor within the US market. Actual compensation may vary based on a number of factors including job location, job-related knowledge, skills, experiences, trainings, etc.

$187K - $270.7K USD

We use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for the position. Applicants must be eligible for any required U.S. export authorizations.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
  • 10+ years of experience in FPGA design, digital logic design, embedded systems, or applications engineering.
  • Strong proficiency in RTL (Verilog/VHDL), timing analysis, synthesis, and FPGA implementation flows.
  • Experience with high-speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR, Ethernet), embedded processors, or board-level design.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and customer-facing skills.
  • Ability to travel to customer sites as needed.


Preferred Qualifications:
  • Hands-on experience with Altera/Intel Quartus, Platform Designer, and associated IP.
  • Familiarity with AI/ML acceleration, DSP, or hardware/software co-design.
  • Experience supporting enterprise customers or large-scale deployments.
  • Strong debugging skills using logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and embedded debug tools.


Job Type:
Regular

Shift:
Shift 1 (United States of America)

Primary Location:
San Jose, California, United States

Additional Locations:

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