Principal Firmware/FPGA Engineer

Job Title

Principal Firmware/FPGA Engineer

Role Summary

Work within RTX BBN Technologies' Physical Systems and Sciences group in Cambridge, MA to design, prototype, and validate real-time embedded systems that integrate FPGA/SoC firmware, high-speed interfaces, and signal processing. The role focuses on hardware/firmware architecture, board bring-up, and delivering experimental testbeds for sensor processing, quantum information, and integrated photonics projects.

Experience Level

Senior — typically requires 8+ years of relevant experience, or an advanced degree in a related technical field plus a minimum of 5 years of experience.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include system architecture, FPGA/firmware development, and experimental testbed support.

• Design and implement real-time control and signal-processing architectures on FPGAs/SoCs.
• Develop RTL (VHDL/Verilog), perform verification, timing analysis, and board bring-up.
• Integrate and validate high-speed interfaces and memory (Ethernet, serial P2P, HBM2, DDR).
• Implement and evaluate detection/classification/localization/tracking algorithms in realistic mission scenarios.
• Build and support experimental testbeds for sensor processing, quantum information, and integrated photonics systems.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams and provide technical leadership for R&D prototypes.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, security requirements, and practical experience for immediate contribution.

• Professional experience in FPGA development processes: RTL design, verification, timing analysis, board bring-up, and system validation.
• Practical understanding of Digital Signal Processing and implementation on FPGAs.
• Experience with high-speed interfaces and protocols (Ethernet, sFPDP/serial P2P, SPI) and high-speed memory interfaces (HBM2, DDR).
• Proficiency in scripting for build and automation (bash, Tcl, etc.).
• Proficiency in RTL languages (VHDL, Verilog) and familiarity with FPGA toolflows.
• Security: U.S. citizenship and an active DoD Secret security clearance are required.
• Nice-to-have: experience with SoC bare-metal and embedded Linux (PetaLinux), RFSoC hardware, Linux driver development for FPGA peripherals, high-level synthesis (BlueSpec/SystemVerilog), and software development in C/C++ and Python.

Education Requirements

Typically requires a Bachelor's degree in a STEM field; an advanced degree in a related field is acceptable and may reduce the required years of experience. (Original posting: Bachelor's in STEM plus ~8 years experience, or Advanced Degree plus ~5 years.)

About the Company

Company: Raytheon Technologies

Headquarters: Arlington, VA, USA

Raytheon Technologies is an Aerospace and Defense company offering advanced systems and services for commercial, military, and government customers worldwide. Formed in 2020 from the merger of Raytheon Company and United Technologies Corporation, it operates through three major business units: Collins Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. The company specializes in delivering cutting-edge solutions across various fields including quantum physics, hypersonics, and cybersecurity.