Senior FPGA Engineer (Algo)
Posted Sep 15, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a latency improvement you made in hardware. How did you measure it?
What they are checking: Real low-latency results backed by careful measurement rather than estimates.
Describe a hard hardware bug you tracked down in the lab.
What they are checking: Debugging skill with tools like logic analyzers and simulation when problems only appear in hardware.
What would you do
You'd build an FPGA application from scratch for an existing trading team. How would you approach the first few months?
What they are checking: Ability to scope requirements, plan architecture and deliver incrementally on a greenfield project.
Your design fails timing closure late in the project. What do you do?
What they are checking: Practical experience with timing problems and the tradeoffs used to resolve them.
How would you work with traders who want to change strategy parameters frequently?
What they are checking: Designing for configurability so traders are not blocked by long hardware build cycles.
About the work
Walk me through the path of a market data packet from the wire to a trading decision on an FPGA.
What they are checking: Deep understanding of low-latency network parsing and decision logic in hardware.
How do you design the interface between FPGA logic and the host software?
What they are checking: Strong grasp of software and hardware interaction, which the posting stresses directly.
How do you approach block-level and system-level verification for a trading design?
What they are checking: Rigorous testing discipline, since hardware bugs in trading can be costly and hard to find.
How do you decide what logic belongs in the FPGA and what should stay in software?
What they are checking: Judgment about flexibility, latency and development cost when splitting work.
How do you make sure risk checks implemented in hardware are correct?
What they are checking: Seriousness about safety controls in hardware where mistakes can cause fast losses.
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As published by DRW.