AI Engineer

Altera

On-site

San Jose, CA

Full-time

Entry

Mid Level

3+ yrs

$133k–$193kPosted 5d ago

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Real job — pulled straight from Altera’s careers page · Verified August 8, 2026 · No reposts.

Altera is hiring a AI Engineer — a full-time, based in San Jose, CA role ($133k–$193k). Apply directly on Altera's careers page below.

AI Engineer

Location: San Jose, California, United States

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

Job Details:

Job Description:

AI Engineer – Agentic AI Systems

Why This Role Matters

AI is shifting from models to autonomous systems. At Altera, we are building agentic AI platforms tightly coupled with FPGA acceleration, enabling intelligent systems that can reason, act, and scale in real-world environments.

This role is designed for high-potential engineers early in their careers who want to:

work on cutting-edge AI (LLMs + agents + RAG)
gain exposure to hardware-software co-design
and grow quickly into technical leaders in AI systems

What You’ll Work On

Build Real Agentic AI Systems

Develop LLM-powered agents that use tools, APIs, and data to complete complex tasks
Implement RAG pipelines for large-scale knowledge integration
Ship end-to-end systems from data ingestion → reasoning → action

Go Beyond “Model Usage”

Design multi-step reasoning workflows, not just prompt calls
Evaluate and improve model behavior (accuracy, latency, cost)
Work with both open-source and frontier models

AI Meets Hardware (Differentiator)

Collaborate with FPGA/ASIC teams on hardware-aware AI design
Learn how AI systems are optimized across CPU / GPU / FPGA
Explore efficient inference and system-level performance tradeoffs

Build Platforms, Not Just Features

Develop reusable components for:
- memory and context management
- tool integration
- knowledge retrieval
Contribute to internal AI platforms used across teams

The pay range below is for Bay Area California only. Actual salary may vary based on a number of factors including job location, job-related knowledge, skills, experiences, trainings, etc. We also offer incentive opportunities that reward employees based on individual and company performance.

$133.2K - $192.8K USD

We use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for the position. Applicants must be eligible for any required U.S. export authorizations.

Qualifications:

What We’re Looking For

Background

Master’s (or exceptional Bachelor’s) in CS, EE, or related field
3+ years experience (internships, research, or industry)

Technical Strength

Strong coding skills in Python (C++ is a plus)
Hands-on experience building:
- AI/ML projects, OR
- backend / distributed systems
Solid fundamentals in:
- data structures
- system design basics

Signal of Excellence (What Sets You Apart)

You’ve built something non-trivial:
- AI project, open-source contribution, or research prototype
You learn new frameworks quickly and ship working systems
You’re curious about how systems work end-to-end, not just models

Bonus Points

Experience with:
- LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar
- vector databases (FAISS, Milvus, etc.)
Exposure to:
- RAG, prompt engineering, or agent workflows
- hardware acceleration or performance optimization

What You’ll Get

Fast Growth

Work directly with senior architects and domain experts
Clear path toward Senior Engineer → Architect roles

High Learning Density

Exposure to both:
- modern AI systems (LLMs, agents)
- hardware acceleration (FPGA/ASIC)

Real Ownership

Build production systems—not demos
Your work will be used in real engineering workflows

Unique Positioning

Few roles combine:
- Agentic AI systems
- EDA / semiconductor domain
- hardware-aware AI optimization

Job Type:

Regular

Shift:

Shift 1 (United States of America)

Primary Location:

San Jose, California, United States

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.