FPGA Silicon Validation Engineer

Altera•Austin, TX

14h

About The Position

At Altera, we are advancing the future of programmable logic with next-generation FPGA and programmable device technologies used across cloud computing, AI acceleration, networking, industrial systems, and secure infrastructure. Our engineering teams develop highly adaptable and secure platforms that enable customers to deploy mission-critical workloads with confidence. We are seeking an FPGA Silicon Validation Engineer to join our high-performance Silicon Validation team and play a critical role in security assurance and validation across Altera’s programmable device portfolio. In this role, you will drive end-to-end security validation strategies across FPGA devices, hard IPs, soft IPs, SoCs, platforms/solutions, and supporting design software. As an FPGA Silicon Validation Engineer, you will collaborate across architecture, RTL design, firmware, software, BIOS, manufacturing, and validation teams to ensure robust security implementations throughout the product lifecycle. This role offers the opportunity to influence validation architecture, drive security assurance methodologies, and contribute to the development of next-generation secure FPGA products.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related STEM field
8+ years of hands-on experience in FPGA or ASIC silicon validation methodologies, including validation architecture, test planning, test development, and silicon debug.
8+ years of experience in pre-silicon or post-silicon validation at the SoC or system level, including hardware/software debug.
Experience collaborating with cross-functional engineering teams, including architecture, RTL design, firmware, and software organizations.
Experience working with globally distributed engineering teams across multiple geographies and time zones, effectively coordinating development and validation activities in a cross-site environment.
8+ years of experience with scripting or programming languages such as Python, C, or C++ used for validation development and automation.
8+ years of experience with RTL design or debug, including knowledge of Verilog or similar hardware description languages.

Nice To Haves

Experience in hardware, platform, firmware, or software security, including system or silicon security architecture, validation, or penetration testing.
Strong understanding of security and cryptographic primitives, secure system design, and hardware security mechanisms.
Experience applying industry security development lifecycle processes (SDL) and performing in-depth technical security reviews.
Experience performing security assurance validation techniques, including fuzz testing, penetration testing, and vulnerability assessments.
Knowledge of FPGA architecture and programmable device systems, including experience with Intel FPGA (formerly Altera) development tools and programming flows.
Familiarity with industry security standards and frameworks, including FIPS, NIST, and Product Security Assurance methodologies.
Experience contributing to security research, patents, or industry conferences.
Experience developing automated validation frameworks and scalable security test infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Define and drive end-to-end security validation strategies for FPGA devices, hard IPs, soft IPs, SoCs, and system platforms to ensure comprehensive product security assurance.
Develop validation architecture specifications, validation strategies, and validation plans, representing the validation team in internal and external forums.
Lead device-level, SoC-level, and system-level security validation efforts, ensuring coverage across silicon, firmware, and software components.
Perform hands-on development of validation content and debug activities in both pre-silicon and post-silicon validation environments, ensuring schedule and quality goals are met.
Conduct security threat assessments, vulnerability analysis, and validation of security components to identify risks and ensure mitigation across the product lifecycle.
Support security assurance validation activities, including hackathons, fuzzing, penetration testing, and vulnerability discovery initiatives.
Participate in product security architecture and design reviews, identify security concerns, and recommend mitigation strategies.
Collaborate with architecture, RTL design, firmware, software, BIOS, manufacturing, and validation teams across multiple development sites.
Drive improvements in validation infrastructure, automation frameworks, and methodologies to enhance coverage and scalability.
Conduct and guide engineering teams through security code reviews and secure design validation practices.
Ensure security implementations align with product security lifecycle processes and compliance requirements.
Respond to customer security inquiries or field issues, supporting root cause analysis and resolution.
Maintain knowledge of state-of-the-art security principles, cryptographic techniques, and emerging attack methodologies, and contribute to technical publications or intellectual property where applicable.
Mentor junior engineers and promote best practices in validation and product security.