Applications Engineering, Architect- FPGA
Synopsys
Sunnyvale, CA · Posted October 22, 2026
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About the job
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 Are
You have spent years deep in the hardware verification world, not just running tools but understanding why designs fail at bring-up and what it takes to get a prototype stable enough to hand off to software teams. When you walk into a customer meeting with a sales team, you listen first. You map their design challenges, their timeline pressure, their past tool frustrations, and you shape your technical approach around what will actually move them forward. You have debugged enough FPGA prototypes to know where customers get stuck: partitioning that does not scale, clock domain issues that surface at bring-up, debug flows that eat weeks. That knowledge is your edge. You use it to de-risk their evaluation and accelerate their decision. You do not pitch features, you solve problems. You can look at a customer's RTL, their timeline, and their existing flow, and sketch a prototype architecture that makes sense before the meeting ends. At Synopsys, you will work with ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS platforms, and you will help customers see how AI-driven verification changes what is possible.
What You'll Be Doing
Architect pre-sales and post-sale technical engagements for Emulation (ZS5, ZeBu-200) and HAPS FPGA prototyping platforms, working directly with prospective and existing customers to shape solutions around their design challenges
Present tailored hardware assisted verification solutions that address customer-specific needs around partitioning, performance, debug, and integration with their existing RTL and validation flows
Create and deploy Agentic AI agents and skills for hardware assisted verification platforms at customer sites, driving adoption of AI-based support models
Conduct technical evaluations, proof-of-concept projects, and benchmarks that demonstrate how ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS solve the customer's real problems, not just theoretical capabilities
Collaborate closely with the sales team to shape opportunity strategy, qualify technical fit, handle objections, and move deals through the pipeline
Deliver compelling product demonstrations, technical presentations, and architecture reviews to engineering teams and executive stakeholders
Build and maintain trusted advisor relationships with customer architects and engineering leaders that extend beyond individual sales cycles
The Impact You Will Have
Your technical credibility and solution design will directly win competitive deals, growing ZS5, ZeBu-200, and HAPS revenue and expanding Synopsys footprint in strategic accounts
Proof-of-concept work you lead will de-risk customer decisions and shorten sales cycles by proving value early and clearly
Solutions you architect will set customers up for long-term success, reducing post-sale friction and creating expansion opportunities across their design teams
Customer insights you bring back will shape product roadmap priorities and help R&D build features that win in the field
Relationships you establish with key technical buyers will open doors for the sales team and create multi-year partnership opportunities
Technical content and competitive positioning you develop will strengthen the entire field team's ability to sell HAPS and Emulation platforms effectively
Your ability to translate complex prototyping challenges into clear business value will elevate how customers perceive Synopsys technical leadership
What You'll Need
Bachelor's or Master's in Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
15+ years of hands-on experience in Emulation, FPGA-based prototyping, ASIC design, or SoC validation, with deep understanding of RTL-to-hardware workflows and design challenges
Strong command of FPGA architectures (Xilinx, Intel, or similar), RTL design in Verilog or VHDL, synthesis flows, and hardware bring-up and debug
Comfort with travel to customer sites for evaluations, presentations, and technical engagements
Experience with ZS5, ZeBu-200, HAPS platforms, ProtoCompiler, or similar FPGA prototyping tools is a strong plus
Who You Are
You can walk into a first meeting with a prospective customer, ask three good questions, and leave with a clear picture of what they need to see in order to move forward
When a customer raises a technical objection or competitive comparison, you address it directly with specifics: real data, real tradeoffs, no deflection or vague promises
You work seamlessly with sales, you understand their goals, you communicate pipeline status clearly, and you help them shape deals without waiting to be asked
You present technical content in a way that lands with different audiences, whether you are walking an engineer through a partitioning flow or explaining prototype ROI to a program manager
You stay organized across multiple active opportunities, managing evaluations, follow-ups, and deliverables without letting anything fall through the cracks
You care about winning, but you care just as much about winning the right way, setting up customers for success so they come back and expand
The Team You'll Be Part Of
Your recruiter will share more about the team structure and mission during the interview process.