Principal Engineer - FPGA/ASIC Design

Job Title

Principal Engineer - FPGA/ASIC Design

Role Summary

Design, verify, integrate and test FPGA and ASIC solutions for Rolls‑Royce engine control systems. Work within a multi-disciplinary engineering team to develop architectures, RTL, simulations, synthesis, and verification artifacts suitable for certification.

Position is hybrid (approx. three office days per week in Reston, VA) with up to 25% travel to other U.S. sites as required.

Experience Level

Senior / Principal-level engineer. This is a senior technical role; see Education Requirements for degree and experience guidance.

Responsibilities

Accountabilities include hands-on design and verification across the FPGA/ASIC lifecycle and preparation of documentation for certification.

• Lead design and development of custom digital devices (FPGA or ASIC) for electronic engine control units.
• Develop RTL using VHDL, Verilog and/or SystemVerilog; create and run simulations and test benches.
• Perform synthesis, place-and-route, timing-closure analysis and optimize for power and area.
• Verify complex FPGA/ASIC products to DO-254 standards and prepare verification plans and reports.
• Integrate FPGA/ASIC designs into system-level hardware and software, and support lab validation and debugging.
• Produce detailed design documentation and deliverables for certification review.
• Collaborate with cross-site teams; travel up to 25% to Indianapolis and West Lafayette, IN when required.

Requirements

Must-have skills and conditions followed by preferred qualifications.

• Must-have: U.S. citizenship (required for consideration).
• Must-have: Proven, hands-on FPGA/ASIC design and verification experience, including RTL development and testbench creation.
• Must-have: Experience with synthesis, place-and-route flows and achieving timing closure on FPGA designs.
• Must-have: Familiarity with DO-254 verification processes and producing evidence for certification authorities.
• Must-have: Proficiency with simulation and debug tools (design simulation, timing analysis).
• Preferred: Lab validation and debug experience using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers and FPGA debug (ILA, JTAG).
• Preferred: Scripting experience (TCL, Python, shell) and use of Windows and Linux development environments.
• Preferred: Experience with Xilinx/Actel tool flows, version control (Git, SVN), MATLAB/Simulink or similar model-based tools, and SysML/Cameo for systems modelling.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering or Computer Engineering with 5+ years' relevant experience, OR Master’s degree in Electronics Engineering or Computer Engineering with 3+ years' relevant experience, OR PhD in Electronics Engineering or Computer Engineering.

About the Company

Company: Rolls-Royce

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Designer, manufacturer and servicer of power systems and propulsion solutions for aerospace, marine, defence and power generation sectors. The company develops engines, integrated systems and related services focused on safety, reliability and innovation globally.