What are the responsibilities and job description for the Principal Engineer Synthesis Team position at Lattice Semiconductor?
Lattice Overview
There is energy here…energy you can feel crackling at any of our international locations. It’s an energy generated by enthusiasm for our work, for our teams, for our results, and for our customers. Lattice is a worldwide community of engineers, designers, and manufacturing operations specialists in partnership with world-class sales, marketing, and support teams, who are developing programmable logic solutions that are changing the industry. Our focus is on R&D, product innovation, and customer service, and to that focus, we bring total commitment and a keenly sharp competitive personality.
Energy feeds on energy. If you flourish in a fast paced, results-oriented environment, if you want to achieve individual success within a “team first” organization, and if you believe you can contribute and succeed in a demanding yet collegial atmosphere, then Lattice may well be just what you’re looking for.
Responsibilities & Skills
Lattice Semiconductor is seeking a Principal Engineer to join the team responsible for the architecture, design, and development of advanced EDA software tools for Lattice FPGA platforms. This role is central to delivering high-quality, scalable synthesis solutions across the Lattice product portfolio, with primary ownership of the Lattice synthesis toolchain.
The ideal candidate is a technical leader and domain expert in FPGA synthesis engine design, with a deep understanding of how to achieve best-in-class results for specific FPGA architectures. You will drive industry-leading outcomes across maximum frequency (Fmax), area efficiency, runtime performance, and memory utilization—balancing tradeoffs to meet the demands of diverse customer use cases.
This role carries significant responsibility for enabling next-generation FPGA architectures, ensuring synthesis solutions scale effectively and remain competitive as the Lattice platform roadmap evolves.
Key Responsibilities
There is energy here…energy you can feel crackling at any of our international locations. It’s an energy generated by enthusiasm for our work, for our teams, for our results, and for our customers. Lattice is a worldwide community of engineers, designers, and manufacturing operations specialists in partnership with world-class sales, marketing, and support teams, who are developing programmable logic solutions that are changing the industry. Our focus is on R&D, product innovation, and customer service, and to that focus, we bring total commitment and a keenly sharp competitive personality.
Energy feeds on energy. If you flourish in a fast paced, results-oriented environment, if you want to achieve individual success within a “team first” organization, and if you believe you can contribute and succeed in a demanding yet collegial atmosphere, then Lattice may well be just what you’re looking for.
Responsibilities & Skills
Lattice Semiconductor is seeking a Principal Engineer to join the team responsible for the architecture, design, and development of advanced EDA software tools for Lattice FPGA platforms. This role is central to delivering high-quality, scalable synthesis solutions across the Lattice product portfolio, with primary ownership of the Lattice synthesis toolchain.
The ideal candidate is a technical leader and domain expert in FPGA synthesis engine design, with a deep understanding of how to achieve best-in-class results for specific FPGA architectures. You will drive industry-leading outcomes across maximum frequency (Fmax), area efficiency, runtime performance, and memory utilization—balancing tradeoffs to meet the demands of diverse customer use cases.
This role carries significant responsibility for enabling next-generation FPGA architectures, ensuring synthesis solutions scale effectively and remain competitive as the Lattice platform roadmap evolves.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide technical leadership in the design, implementation, and optimization of FPGA synthesis engines across multiple Lattice product families
- Collaborate with synthesis developers and cross-functional partners to define architecture, algorithms, and long-term technical direction
- Drive quality-of-results (QoR) improvements spanning Fmax, area, and compile time
- Lead development and enablement of new synthesis features and capabilities aligned with product roadmap priorities
- Maintain, enhance, and modernize the synthesis codebase to ensure robustness, scalability, and long-term maintainability
- Serve as the technical escalation point for complex synthesis issues, including customer-reported problems
- Influence engineering best practices, code quality, and design standards within the synthesis team
- Mentor and guide junior and mid-level engineers through design reviews and technical guidance
- 10 years of experience in EDA software development, with a focus on logic synthesis or place-and-route
- Expert-level proficiency in C , with a track record of designing, implementing, and optimizing large-scale, performance-critical software systems
- Deep knowledge of synthesis algorithms — including technology mapping, retiming, logic optimization, and timing-driven optimization
- Strong understanding of FPGA architectures (LUTs, DSPs, BRAMs, carry chains) and how architectural constraints inform synthesis strategy
- Experience with QoR benchmarking methodologies and data-driven optimization workflows
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives independently and influence without direct authority
- Hands-on experience with generative AI tools applied to developer productivity — debugging, code review, algorithm exploration, or documentation
- Familiarity with the Lattice synthesis toolchain (Radiant, Propel, or ACE environments)
- Experience with Python scripting for automation, regression testing, or QoR analysis
- M.S. or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field