Job Details:

Job Description:

The Lead Engineer will be responsible for preparing, configuring, validating, and maintaining FPGA development and test board farm used across firmware and embedded software development and validation teams. 

This role ensures that all boards and associated hardware infrastructures are production-ready to support tool development, regression testing, compiler validation flows, and early silicon enabling. 

The engineer partners closely with FPGA Design Tools developers, Hardware Engineering, Validation, and Lab Operations to guarantee a robust, scalable, and highly reliable board environment. 

The successful candidate will be part of the Altera Software and IP Solutions (SIPS) Team. 

Why this Role Matters?   

The Lead Engineer plays a critical and foundational role in leading and driving our Next Generation Board Farm that is scalable to support our customer obsessed culture. Although the work may appear “behind the scenes,” nothing in the FPGA toolchain ecosystem can function reliably without this role. 

Moreover, the work directly impacts product quality and customer experience. Stable, validated software component leads to higher reliability, fewer customer issues, and faster support turnaround. Every improvement they make silently enhances the end-user experience with Altera FPGAs. 

The candidate is the silent force enabling every SIPS engineer - from firmware to embedded solutions - to innovate, test, validate, and ship world class FPGA solutions.

Key Responsibilities  

FPGA Board Bring-Up and Configuration 

• Perform bring-up of Intel FPGA development boards, dev-kits and customer reference boards for Agilex™, Stratix 10®, Arria 10® and alike 

• Configure power rails, clocks, switches, MSEL settings, and peripherals according to board specifications 

• Program FPGA devices using solutions such as Quartus Prime Pro, Intel FPGA Download Cable, JTAG Chain Debugger, and associated programming utilities 

Development Tools Integration 

• Set up boards that interface with FPGA development tool flows, including compiler front-end and back-end flows, assembler, fitter, timing engines and board-aware compiler features 

• Validate board readiness for automation pipelines, nightly regressions, and release qualification 

Board Validation & Debug 

• Perform initial board validation (power-on checks, rail measurements, temperature profiling). 

• Run smoke tests and functional validation using board test suites, IP testcases, and tool-generated designs. 

• Debug board-related failures using test equipment such as JTAG chain diagnostics and bus analysers 

• Support issue reproduction for debugging by development teams 

Automation & Continuous Integration Support 

• Create or enhance automation scripts (Python, Bash, TCL, PowerShell) for automated board programming, power cycling, error logging, firmware/config file deployment 

• Support integration of boards into CI/CD systems and test flow automation stack including but not limited to enabling hard reset, soft reset, power cycle flows 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Work closely with: 

• Silicon Engineering for early-silicon board enablement 

• Validation & QA teams to ensure regression reliability 

• Board Design and Manufacturing to evaluate new revisions and prototypes 

• Communicate board-level issues clearly with logs, instrumentation data, and reproducible steps 

• Debug and triage any test flow failures with test/validation owners, and identify failure points and debug options 

• Create a reference debugging methods and steps for test flow owners to distinguish between hardware/board or infrastructure failures with test flow failures 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s in Electrical/Electronics/Computer Engineering or related discipline. 

• At least 6-8+ years of experience hands-on experience in firmware or embedded system validation.  

• Experience with FPGA development boards (preferably Altera devices). 

• Hands-on experience with Quartus Prime, JTAG tools, and board setup workflows. 

• Ability to read schematics, interpret power distribution networks, and understand board documentation. 

• Familiarity with oscilloscopes, multi-meters, power meters, and logic analysers. 

• Strong problem-solving and root-cause-analysis skills. 

• Highly organized and methodical in tracking boards and configurations. 

• Excellent communication skills for reporting issues to cross-functional engineering teams. 

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision in a fast-paced environment. 

• Passion for enabling stable, scalable, and automated FPGA development workflows. 

 

Added advantages, 

• Experience with PCIe, DDR4/DDR5, Ethernet, HPS, or high-speed transceiver bring-up 

• Experience supporting compiler or software development teams using FPGA hardware. 

• Understanding of Agilex device architecture, tile configuration, and board connectivity. 

• Experience with Linux-based board environments, remote lab systems, and automation frameworks. 

• Knowledge of scripting languages (Python, TCL, Bash) used to integrate board support into tool flows or CI 

Job Type:

Regular

Shift:

Shift 1 (Malaysia)

Primary Location:

Penang 15, Penang, Malaysia

Additional Locations:

Posting Statement:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.