Senior Field Application Engineer, Digital Design (US)

Seattle, WA, US | Full-time or Part-time | Permanent  

Salary: $135,000 to $170,000 USD DOE   

Location note: Please note that while Seattle, WA is the preferred location for this position, we can also consider the role to be based in Boston, MA or New York, NY – please state your preferred working location in your cover letter. 

We also have a very similar UK-based opening for this position in our Cambridge, UK office. Please see our separate, Cambridge, UK job posting for more details. 

Compensation note: The salary range for this role is broad as we are able to consider varying levels of experience.  Any offer made will carefully take into account level of experience (including relevant industry experience), transferable relevant skills and previous relevant achievements. 

About us  

Riverlane’s mission is to make quantum computing useful, sooner. From climate change to healthcare, large and reliable quantum computers will help solve some of the world’s important challenges. Riverlane is building the quantum error correction stack to make this happen. It’s a complex problem that requires a range of skills, talent and passion. We’re making remarkable progress and growing fast.   

About the role  

We have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Field Application Engineer (FAE) with a strong background in digital design to successfully lead the installation and integration of Riverlane’s quantum error correction stack (Deltaflow) into our partners and customers hardware in the US and North America.   

We are looking for a technically driven and customer-oriented Field Application Engineer with a strong background in FPGA design to support customer installations, bring-up, and design flow integration.  Working with our customers across the US, you will work directly with internal and external engineering and scientific teams to ensure the successful deployment and optimisation of our FPGA-based system - from design flow setup to debugging and performance tuning. 

As a Senior FAE - Digital Design (US), you will help integrate our multi-FPGA, low-latency, high throughput system that needs to perform complex operations, in a predictable and guaranteed way.  You will also use your knowledge and expertise to support more junior engineers, interact with software and identify novel solutions to our challenging problems. 

This is a fantastic opportunity to join Riverlane’s customer enablement team and play a pivotal role in enabling key quantum hardware companies with QEC capability.  This team is a mix of physicists, software engineers and hardware engineers, working together on a range of exciting and cutting-edge projects.     

Our mission is exciting, but complex.  It requires teams with a wide range of skills and perspectives, that communicate well and collaborate effectively to achieve truly innovative solutions.  You will thrive in an environment where knowledge sharing and continuous learning are the norm.  We are moving fast in a brand new market, where requirements can change quickly as the technology evolves, so the ability to adapt is critical.   

What you will do  

As Senior Field Application Engineer – Digital Design (US), you will:   

• Leverage your expertise on FPGA platforms (e.g. AMD/Xilinx MPSoCs/RFSoCs, Altera Stratix 7 or Stratix 10), and associated IP integration workflows to our customers and scientists. 

• Drive the integration of our solution into our customers’ existing systems, leading on-site and remote customer support 

• Guide customers through RTL-based design, synthesis, implementation, timing closure, and bitstream generation 

• Provide technical support, reference designs, and custom example projects to support customer ramp-up 

• Work on customisations of our RTL to meet the needs of early-customers/prototypes. 

• Act as the technical bridge between customers and internal engineering teams, ensuring that field feedback helps shape product improvements 

• Collaborate with Business Development to support pre-sales technical evaluations, proof-of-concepts, and customer benchmarks 

In performing the above, you will (often from scratch) design, modify or integrate novel IPs and develop tests, collaborating closely with our software, verification and testing experts to deliver an outstanding product.     

What we need  

• Experience with state-of-the-art AMD/Xilinx FPGA platforms 

• Proven professional experience in at least one of the following areas:    

• Architecture of System on Chip solutions, with at least one CPU and custom accelerators;  

• High-speed interfaces (preference for transceiver-based interfaces);  

• Large-scale, complex systems on FPGA 

• Proven capability to test, debug and improve complex systems, both in the field and remotely   

• Ability to convert product requirements into technical specifications to document and share your work   

• Desire and ability to support customers with the installation  

• Ability and willingness to travel to customer sites within the US and North America (around 20%) 

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team   

• A curious nature and a passion for learning and continuous improvement 

What you can expect from us  

• A comprehensive benefits package, including annual bonus scheme, private medical insurance, life insurance, a contributory retirement fund (and much more)  
• Equity so that our team can share in the long-term success of Riverlane  
• Generous annual leave (plus federal holidays) and enhanced family leave  
• A diverse work environment that brings together experts in many fields (including software and hardware development, quantum information theory, physics, maths and many more) and over 20 different nationalities  
• A learning environment that encourages individual, team and company growth and learning, including training and conference budgets  

  
How to apply  

Please upload a CV and cover letter by clicking 'Apply'. Your cover letter should explain why you are applying for the job and what skills and experience you can bring to the role.  

We review CVs as we receive them and interview as soon as we have applications that look like a good match (usually within one week). We do not use closing dates. So, please apply as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this role. If you have any queries, please contact [email protected].  

Everyone is welcome at Riverlane. We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from eligible and suitably qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender reassignment, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity/paternity.  

Women and other underrepresented groups may be less likely to apply for a role unless they meet all, or nearly all, of the requirements.  If this applies to you, we still encourage you to apply - you may be a great fit, even if you don’t meet every single qualification. We’d love to hear from you. 

If you need any adjustments made to the application or selection process so you can do your best, please let us know. We will be happy to help.