Sr FPGA Engineer

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Laboratory Setting, Office

Job Description

Sr FPGA Engineer

R-01343840

San Jose, CA (Site Based Position)

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry Division (LSMS) is seeking an Embedded Engineer to lead the architecture, development, and lifecycle ownership of high-performance FPGA-based systems used in advanced mass spectrometry instrumentation.

This is a highly visible role responsible for defining FPGA architecture strategy, driving new product development, and ensuring robust production support for mission-critical scientific instrumentation. The successful candidate will serve as a technical authority within the organization and play a key role in enabling next-generation analytical platforms. This is a full-time, permanent R&D position.

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Define and lead FPGA architecture for high-performance data acquisition and control systems.
• Drive system-level design decisions in collaboration with electrical, firmware, software, mechanical, and systems engineering teams.
• Lead complex FPGA development from concept through production release.
• Own timing closure, resource optimization, power management, and performance tuning.

Design & Development

• Develop FPGA logic using VHDL, Verilog, and/or System Verilog.
• Perform high-level modeling and simulation.
• Execute synthesis, place & route, constraint development, and timing analysis.
• Implement high-speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR, LVDS, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, etc.).
• Integrate SoC FPGA architectures when applicable.

Verification & Validation

• Define and execute FPGA verification strategies.
• Develop simulation environments and regression frameworks.
• Lead board bring-up, hardware integration, and system validation.
• Ensure compliance with product performance, reliability, and manufacturability requirements.

Production & Sustaining Engineering

• Provide expert-level troubleshooting for FPGA-related production or field issues.
• Perform root-cause analysis and corrective design actions.
• Support continuous improvement in FPGA design standards and tool flows.

Organizational Impact

• Mentor and guide junior engineers.
• Establish best practices in coding standards, documentation, and verification methodologies.
• Contribute to long-term FPGA technology roadmaps within LSMS.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred).

Experience:

• 10+ years of FPGA design experience in complex embedded systems.
• Expert proficiency in VHDL and/or Verilog/SystemVerilog.
• Deep experience with FPGA toolchains (Quartus and/or Xilinx).
• Strong expertise in timing closure, constraint management, and system integration.
• Proven experience integrating FPGA designs into hardware platforms.
• Experience supporting products through NPI, production release, and sustaining phases.
• Strong analytical, debugging, and root-cause analysis skills.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in scientific instrumentation, analytical equipment, or precision measurement systems.
• Experience with MATLAB/Simulink (HDL Coder/System Generator) or High-Level Synthesis (HLS).
• Experience with high-speed data acquisition systems.
• Familiarity with FPGA-based signal processing pipelines.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range estimated for this position based in California is $163,100.00–$244,625.00.

This position may also be eligible to receive a variable annual bonus based on company, team, and/or individual performance results in accordance with company policy. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package that our U.S. colleagues and their families can count on, which includes:

• A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs

• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement

• At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO), 10 paid holidays annually, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability in accordance with company policy

• Retirement and savings programs, such as our competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan

• Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

For more information on our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.thermofisher.com/global/en/total-rewards