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Synopsys Verified
Semiconductor

Staff Applications Engineer, HAV Solutions

RemoteRemoteFull TimeStaff$128,800–$193,200 /yrPosted 1 month agoVisa sponsorship available

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Required skills

  • FPGA
  • ASIC
  • HAPS
  • ProtoCompiler
  • PCIe
  • DDR
  • Ethernet
  • AXI
  • SystemVerilog
  • RTL

Nice to have

  • ASIC verification
  • USB
  • clock domain issues
  • timing reports
  • debug instrumentation
  • bring-up procedures

Role summary

Synopsys is seeking a Staff Applications Engineer for their Hardware-Assisted Verification (HAV) Solutions team. This role involves supporting customer deployments of HAPS and ProtoCompiler for FPGA-based prototyping of SoC designs. Responsibilities include assisting with the ASIC-to-FPGA flow, debugging interface IP issues, analyzing technical problems, and developing methodologies. The engineer will collaborate with R&D, Sales, and Customer Success teams to ensure customer success and provide feedback for product improvement. The ideal candidate has 5-8 years of experience in FPGA implementation, ASIC design, or applications engineering, with strong knowledge of FPGA tools, SystemVerilog, and interface protocols.

Descriptions & Requirements

Job Description and Requirements

We Are
Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.

You AreYou have spent years working with FPGAs and ASIC designs, and you know that getting a prototype to boot is rarely about the tool, it is about understanding what the design is actually doing. You have debugged partitioning failures, chased down clock domain issues, and figured out why a DDR interface works in simulation but fails on hardware. You do not just follow runbooks. You understand the flow well enough to know when something does not look right and how to dig deeper.You are comfortable talking to customer engineering teams about their designs, asking the right questions to understand what they are building, and translating that into a working ProtoCompiler flow. When something breaks, you can work through logs, timing reports, and RTL to figure out what went wrong and explain it in a way that makes sense. You have worked with interface IP like PCIe, DDR, Ethernet, or AXI, and you understand how these subsystems behave in a prototype versus simulation.At Synopsys, you will support customers deploying HAPS and ProtoCompiler on real SoC designs. The problems are technical, the customers are smart, and the work you do directly impacts whether their hardware brings up on schedule or slips by months.What You'll Be Doing
  • Support customer deployments of HAPS and ProtoCompiler, working through the ASIC-to-FPGA flow including partitioning, synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, and hardware bring-up
  • Debug customer designs involving interface IP such as DDR4/DDR5, LPDDR, PCIe, Ethernet, USB, AXI, and other standard protocols
  • Reproduce and analyze technical issues reported by customers, working with R&D to identify root causes and deliver solutions or workarounds
  • Develop and document methodologies for partitioning strategies, clock architecture, debug instrumentation, and bring-up procedures
  • Collaborate with Sales and Customer Success teams to support technical evaluations, proof-of-concept engagements, and deployment planning
  • Use Verdi, ProtoCompiler runtime debug tools, and protocol analyzers to troubleshoot RTL, netlist, timing, and hardware issues
The Impact You Will Have
  • Help customers get their prototypes running so they can start software development and system validation weeks or months earlier
  • Solve technical problems that unblock critical customer milestones and keep their chip schedules on track
  • Provide feedback to R&D that improves ProtoCompiler features, usability, and robustness based on real customer use cases
  • Build reusable methodologies and documentation that help other applications engineers and customers deploy faster
  • Support competitive evaluations where your technical depth and problem-solving ability directly influence customer decisions
  • Contribute to the success of SoC programs across AI, automotive, networking, and mobile markets by enabling faster hardware availability
What You'll Need
  • Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience
  • 5-8 years in FPGA implementation, ASIC design, ASIC verification, FPGA prototyping, or applications engineering
  • Solid experience with FPGA synthesis, place-and-route, and timing closure using Xilinx Vivado, Intel Quartus, or similar tools
  • Working knowledge of SystemVerilog, RTL design, and verification concepts
  • Hands-on experience with at least one interface IP family such as PCIe, DDR, Ethernet, USB, or AXI
  • Scripting ability in Tcl, Python, or shell for automation and flow customization
  • Experience with Synopsys HAPS, ProtoCompiler, or other FPGA-based prototyping platforms is a strong plus
Who You Are
  • You can look at a customer's partitioning result and spot the issues that will cause problems downstream before they waste days on place-and-route
  • When a customer says their design does not work, you ask specific questions to narrow down whether it is an RTL issue, a tool issue, a constraint issue, or a hardware issue
  • You are comfortable working with incomplete information and figuring out what you need to know to move forward
  • You can explain a technical problem to a customer engineer in a way that helps them understand what happened and what to do next
  • You do not panic when something breaks. You work through it methodically using logs, waveforms, timing reports, and whatever else is available
  • You learn quickly and are not afraid to dig into unfamiliar parts of a design or toolflow to understand what is going on
The Team You'll Be Part OfYou will join the Hardware-Assisted Verification (HAV) Applications Engineering team, working with customers deploying HAPS and ProtoCompiler for FPGA-based prototyping. You will collaborate with other applications engineers, R&D, Product Management, and Sales teams to support customer success across semiconductor, AI, automotive, and systems companies.

Rewards and Benefits
We offer a comprehensive range of health, wellness, and financial benefits to cater to your needs. Our total rewards include both monetary and non-monetary offerings. Your recruiter will provide more details about the salary range and benefits during the hiring process.

At Synopsys, we want talented people of every background to feel valued and supported to do their best work. Synopsys considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, military veteran status, or disability.

In addition to the base salary, this role may be eligible for an annual bonus, equity, and other discretionary bonuses. Synopsys offers comprehensive health, wellness, and financial benefits as part of a competitive total rewards package. The actual compensation offered will be based on a number of job-related factors, including location, skills, experience, and education. Your recruiter can share more specific details on the total rewards package upon request. The base salary range for this role is across the U.S.

General Information

Job Title Staff Applications Engineer, HAV Solutions Job ID 18848 City Sunnyvale State/Province California Date Posted 15-Sep-2026 Job Category Engineering Job Subcategory Applications Engineering Hire Type Employee Remote Eligible Yes Base Salary Range: $128800 - $193200

Sample Synopsys interview questions

  • 1

    Can you discuss the role and importance of DMA addressing in system design?

    technicalmedium
  • 2

    Please provide a brief explanation of semaphores and how they function. What situations call for their use?

    system designmedium
  • 3

    In your opinion, what are the optimal methods for handling errors in embedded systems?

    system designmedium
  • 4

    Can you discuss the role and functionality of a watchdog timer?

    system designmedium
  • 5

    Can you outline a strategy for developing a software system to manage hot pluggable cable de-bouncing?

    system designmedium

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