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Fpga Emulation Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Emulation Engineer

Saratoga, CA · On-site

$185K - $250K/yr

The ideal candidate will be responsible for building and deploying emulation and FPGA models from RTL designs using industry-standard tools and methodologies. This role involves close collaboration ...

FPGA Engineer

Tucson, AZ · On-site

$65 - $116/hr

FPGA Engineer with ACTIVE Secret Security Clearance RATE RANGE: $65/hr - $116.00/hr W2 Contract ... Verification utilizing emulation platforms, such as Veloce  Please respond to Meredith Baldwin ...

FPGA Engineer

Tucson, AZ · On-site

$65 - $116/hr

FPGA Engineer with ACTIVE Secret Security Clearance RATE RANGE: $65/hr - $116.00/hr W2 Contract ... Verification utilizing emulation platforms, such as Veloce  Please respond to Meredith Baldwin ...

FPGA Engineer

Tucson, AZ · On-site

$90/hr

What you will do Design and deliver production quality FPGA releases from initial proof of concept ... Verification utilizing emulation platforms, such as Veloce. Pay Ra nge: $90.00 - $ 100.00 per hour

Emulation Verification Engineer

Cupertino, CA · On-site

$167K - $204K/yr

Understanding of the tool flow from RTL to Emulation is a huge plusGood understanding of any Standard Emulator (Palladium, Veloce, Zebu) OR FPGA (Xilinx, Altera) flowProven design verification ...

Emulation Verification Engineer

Beaverton, OR · On-site

$141K - $172K/yr

Understanding of the tool flow from RTL to Emulation is a huge plusGood understanding of any Standard Emulator (Palladium, Veloce, Zebu) OR FPGA (Xilinx, Altera) flowProven design verification ...

Sr. FPGA Engineer

Burlingame, CA · On-site

$160K - $210K/yr

Establish robust verification frameworks, including simulation, emulation, and hardware validation. What you'll bring: * PhD or MS/BS in EE/CE or related field, 7+ years of FPGA and DSP ...

Emulation Verification Engineer

Beaverton, OR · On-site

$141K - $172K/yr

Understanding of the tool flow from RTL to Emulation is a huge plusGood understanding of any Standard Emulator (Palladium, Veloce, Zebu) OR FPGA (Xilinx, Altera) flowProven design verification ...

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Fpga Emulation information

See salary details

$70K

$147.1K

$210.5K

How much do fpga emulation jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 9, 2026, the average yearly pay for fpga emulation in the United States is $147,056.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $123,000.00 and $169,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the difference between Fpga Emulation vs Fpga Design Engineer?

AspectFpga EmulationFpga Design Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related fields; certifications like Certified FPGA EngineerBachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related fields; certifications like Certified FPGA Engineer
Work EnvironmentUses specialized hardware platforms for testing and validation; often in labs or R&D facilitiesDesigning, coding, and simulating FPGA architectures; typically in design teams or R&D labs
Industry UsagePrimarily in verification, validation, and system integration phasesInvolved in the development, optimization, and implementation of FPGA designs

While both roles require similar educational backgrounds and certifications, Fpga Emulation focuses on testing and validation using specialized hardware, whereas Fpga Design Engineers concentrate on creating and optimizing FPGA architectures. Understanding these differences helps clarify career paths and job expectations in the FPGA industry.

What are some common challenges faced by FPGA Emulation Engineers during project development?

FPGA Emulation Engineers often encounter challenges such as debugging complex hardware-software interactions, optimizing emulation speed for large-scale designs, and ensuring accurate synchronization between emulated components. The role typically involves collaborating closely with design, verification, and software teams to resolve issues quickly and maintain project timelines. Staying up-to-date with evolving tools and methodologies is crucial, as is strong communication to coordinate across multidisciplinary teams.

What is FPGA emulation?

FPGA emulation is the process of using Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to mimic the behavior of digital circuits or systems, often for the purpose of verifying hardware designs before they are manufactured. This allows engineers to test and debug their designs in a real hardware environment, which is faster and more accurate than software simulation alone. FPGA emulation is commonly used in the development of complex systems-on-chip (SoCs), as it helps catch design errors early and speeds up the overall verification process. It bridges the gap between software simulation and physical prototyping, providing a high-performance and flexible platform for hardware validation.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an FPGA Emulation Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as an FPGA Emulation Engineer, you need a solid background in digital design, hardware description languages (like VHDL or Verilog), and experience with FPGA architectures, typically supported by a degree in electrical engineering or a related field. Familiarity with emulation platforms such as Mentor Graphics Veloce, Synopsys ZeBu, or Cadence Palladium, as well as debugging and verification tools, is essential. Strong problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and effective communication skills help you collaborate with design and verification teams. These skills ensure accurate hardware validation, efficient bug detection, and smooth integration within complex chip development cycles.
More about Fpga Emulation jobs
What states have the most Fpga Emulation jobs? States with the most job openings for Fpga Emulation jobs include:
Infographic showing various Fpga Emulation job openings in the United States as of May 2026, with employment types broken down into 97% Full Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 93% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 3% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $147,056 per year, or $70.7 per hour.

Emulation Engineer

Eridu AI

Saratoga, CA • On-site

$185K - $250K/yr

Full-time

Posted 13 days ago


Job description

About Eridu
Eridu is a Silicon Valley-based hardware startup pioneering infrastructure solutions that accelerate AI data centers to deliver Faster AI. Today's AI performance is frequently limited by communication bottlenecks. Eridu introduces multiple industry-first innovations across silicon, packaging, software, and systems to deliver an order of magnitude improvement in performance and unlock greater GPU utilization to speed training job completion times and tokens-per-second for more profitable inference. We do this while simultaneously reducing capital and power costs and improving reliability.
The company's solutions and value proposition have been widely validated by leading hyperscalers.
Eridu has raised over $200M to date including its most recent, oversubscribed Series A round. The company is led by a veteran team of Silicon Valley executives who have delivered multiple billion dollar product lines and led multiple companies to billion dollar exits, including serial entrepreneur Drew Perkins, co-founder of Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN), Lightera (acq. by Ciena), Gainspeed (acq. by Nokia) and Mojo Vision (the world's leading micro-LED company). The company is in execution mode and has a world-class engineering team with decades of experience in state-of-the-art silicon, packaging, optics, software, and systems. Eridu is working with best-in-class supply chain partners including silicon, packaging and systems.
Visit our website eridu.ai to learn more.
Position Overview
We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Emulation Engineer to join our hardware development team. The ideal candidate will be responsible for building and deploying emulation and FPGA models from RTL designs using industry-standard tools and methodologies. This role involves close collaboration with cross-functional teams including design, software, firmware, and validation to accelerate hardware verification and software development.
Responsibilities
  • Develop and deliver emulation models from RTL using synthesis, partitioning, and routing tools.
  • Plan and execute simulation acceleration, emulation, and prototyping activities aligned with project milestones.
  • Design and implement high-performance transactors and emulation testbenches using SystemVerilog and C/C++/DPI.
  • Drive emulation methodologies for hardware verification and software/firmware development.
  • Build system-level use cases for execution on emulators and support platform bring-up.
  • Analyze emulation results, identify performance regressions, and triage issues.
  • Conduct power measurements and performance evaluations on emulation platforms.
  • Maintain and enhance emulation CI infrastructure to support autonomous performance exploration.
  • Collaborate with vendors to debug issues and deploy new emulation capabilities.
  • Interface with design, validation, and software teams to optimize emulation environments and workflows.
Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering with a minimum of 7+ years of relevant experience, or Master's degree with 5+ years of experience.
  • Strong background in ASIC logic/RTL design and emulation model development.

Required Skills
  • Proficiency in Verilog/SystemVerilog, C/C++, Python, and Unix Shell scripting.
  • Experience with emulation platforms such as Palladium, Veloce, Zebu, or FPGA prototyping.
  • Familiarity with emulation tools and methodologies including BFMs, transactors, and hybrid environments.
  • Ability to debug hardware issues using waveforms, logs, and trace dumps.
  • Experience with CI/CD tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI) for automation and integration.
  • Excellent problem-solving, debugging, and analytical skills.

Preferred Skills
  • Experience in building workloads for pre-silicon environments.
  • Knowledge of emulation performance optimization techniques.
  • Exposure to system-level use case development and power/performance analysis.
  • Experience with computer networking protocols such as Ethernet.
  • Experience with network test equipment such as Ixia/Spirent traffic generators.

Why Join Us?
At Eridu, you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of AI infrastructure, working with a world-class team on groundbreaking technology that pushes the boundaries of AI performance. Your contributions will directly impact the next generation of AI infrastructure solutions, transforming the performance of AI data centers.
The starting base salary for the selected candidate will be established based on their relevant skills, experience, qualifications, work location, market trends, and the compensation of employees in comparable roles.
Notice to Recruiting Agencies
Eridu does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles from staffing agencies or third-party recruiters. Any candidate submitted to Eridu without prior written authorization from our recruiting team will be considered unsolicited and will become the property of Eridu. Eridu reserves the right to pursue and hire such candidates without any obligation to pay fees. Recruiting agencies are expressly instructed not to contact hiring managers, employees, or executives regarding open positions.
The pay range for this role is:
185,000 - 250,000 USD per year (San Francisco Bay Area )