FPGA Hardware Engineer

What the role needs

• The application window is expected to close on: 11/29/2026 This is an onsite role and will require working out of the Milpitas office location at least 4 days/week.
• Meet the Team
• Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or relevant degree and 7 years of related experience Or Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or relevant degree and 4 years of related experience
• FPGA or ASIC development experience from specification to production.
• Experience with Verilog/System Verilog RTL coding
• Experience with industry leading FPGA devices and tools.
• $154,900.00 - $259,100.00
• $136,500.00 - $228,300.00
• For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.
• Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.

From the employer

The application window is expected to close on: 11/29/2026 This is an onsite role and will require working out of the Milpitas office location at least 4 days/week. Meet the Team The Common Hardware Group (CHG) delivers the silicon, optics, and hardware platforms for Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products. We design the networking hardware for Enterprises and Service Providers of various sizes, the Public Sector, and Non-Profit Organizations across the world. Cisco Silicon One (#CiscoSiliconOne) is the only unifying silicon architecture in the market that enables customers to deploy the best-of-breed silicon from Top of Rack (TOR) switches all the way through web scale data centers and across service providers, enterprise networks, and data centers with a fully unified routing and switching portfolio. Your Impact You will work on cutting edge, next generation routers powering AI buildout. You will be responsible for taking networking system requirements, mapping them into functional blocks for FPGA implementation, working with the cross functional team to address development requirements, participate in validation of the system, and release to manufacturing. You will work on the High-End Routing team that designs the ASR8000 routers. You will be a member of the FPGA team that designs control path FPGAs for the various boards. You will interface with Diagnostics, Software, Board design, Manufacturing and Hardware Qualification teams to ensure smooth delivery of the project. You are an experienced FPGA designer able to write RTL code, run simulations, address timing and other constraints, then generate programming files. You can work with many teams to resolve system level issues. In addition, you have good analytical skills and can deal with the complexity of System Hardware and Software interactions. You have a grasp of the system design for a router or line card and are also able to lead meetings, drive issues to resolution, and communicate clearly with all stakeholders. Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or relevant degree and 7 years of related experience Or Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or relevant degree and 4 years of related experience FPGA or ASIC development experience from specification to production. Experience with Verilog/System Verilog RTL coding Experience with industry leading FPGA devices and tools. Preferred Qualifications Recent experience with UVM and/or VMM Verification methodology. Experience with high-speed design debug. Experience with advanced microprocessor-based design. Low level networking card debug experience. Experience with CPU based peripherals architecture. Why Cisco? At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. We are Cisco, and our power starts with you. Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada: The starting salary range posted for this position is $154,900.00 to $225,300.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits. Individual pay is determined by the candidate s hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process. U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time. U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies: 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations) 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies. Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows: .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota; 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%; 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation. For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid. The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below: New York City Metro Area: $154,900.00 - $259,100.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $136,500.00 - $228,300.00 * For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined. ** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.