Staff Hardware System Design Engineer

Originally posted 10 November 2026 by the employer.

About the role

As a member of the hardware design team, you will own the board design lifecycle and drive system-level architecture for FPGA-based emulation platforms. The role encompasses schematic capture, PCB stack-up and layout, power and signal integrity simulation, and lab bring-up in close partnership with software and firmware teams.

What you'll do

• Own the board design lifecycle, including schematic capture, PCB stack-up (up to 26 layers), PCB layout, BOM management, and design verification testing.
• Perform power and signal integrity simulations for 10 Gbps SERDES and high-speed I/O, spanning model extraction, simulation, reporting, and design modifications.
• Lead or support FPGA board design across Xilinx and Altera platforms, incorporating DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5 discrete memory subsystems.
• Direct lab technicians on board and multi-board system installation, bring-up, and root-cause debug.
• Define system architecture across multiple boards and platforms while partnering with mechanical, CAD, and manufacturing teams for DFM optimization.
• Author and maintain hardware design documentation, including HDDs, pinout tables, and design review packages.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, Science, or a related field with 4+ years of ASIC/hardware design experience (or Master's with 3+ years, or PhD with 2+ years).
• At least 5 years of experience in system architecture, hardware board design, and signal integrity simulations (with extensive multi-board architecture experience expected at the Staff level).
• Demonstrated experience in schematic capture, PCB stack-up, and layout for complex multi-layer boards (up to 26 layers) along with BOM management.
• Hands-on experience with FPGA board design (Xilinx and/or Altera) and FPGA HDL coding.
• Experience running power and signal integrity simulations for 10 Gbps or higher SERDES and high-speed I/O using transmission line theory.
• Practical knowledge of DDR3, DDR4, or DDR5 discrete component designs, alongside protocols such as PCIe, I2C, JTAG, UART, SPI, and eMMC.
• Familiarity with EDA and analysis tools including Mentor Graphics DxDesigner/Expedition, Vivado, Quartus, HyperLynx, Sigrity PowerSI/PowerDC, ADS, Ansys HFSS, or SPICE.

Nice to have

• Power supply design experience and PDN (power delivery network) simulations.
• Experience conducting Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Test (DFT) reviews with PCB fabricators and contract manufacturers.
• Familiarity with scripting languages (Python, Perl) for design automation and test workflows.
• Industry certification such as IPC Certified Interconnect Designer (CID) or equivalent.
• Experience defining board and system design methodologies, reusable IP, or standards adopted across multiple hardware programs.

Skills: board design, schematic capture, PCB layout, signal integrity, SERDES, DDR5

More semiconductor jobs: Qualcomm jobs · Hardware design jobs · San Diego jobs