Principal FPGA Engineer

Job Title

Principal FPGA Engineer

Role Summary

Senior, hands-on FPGA engineer responsible for leading architecture, design, implementation, verification, and delivery of FPGA-based solutions for DoD and related secure products (VITA/VPX modules and custom boards). Works on projects from concept through production release and supports sustaining engineering.

Acts as technical lead and mentor within cross-functional teams, collaborating with program managers, systems, hardware, software, test, and manufacturing engineers.

Experience Level

Senior / Principal level. Posting specifies 10+ years of FPGA hardware development experience.

Responsibilities

Core responsibilities include design leadership, hands-on FPGA development, verification, and support through production.

• Lead FPGA architecture and design for new products and lead design projects as needed.
• Develop RTL (SystemVerilog/Verilog/VHDL), create simulation testbenches, and perform synthesis and timing closure.
• Drive FPGA development flow: simulation, synthesis, place-and-route, and bitstream generation.
• Perform hardware bring-up, prototype testing, debugging, and verification on lab equipment.
• Collaborate with Integrated Product Teams and customers throughout product lifecycle.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior FPGA and hardware engineers.
• Contribute to project planning, scheduling, resource estimation, and sustaining engineering.
• Oversee circuit card development and support transition of designs into production.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, experience, and constraints are listed first; preferred items follow.

• Must-have: 10+ years of FPGA hardware development experience, including high-speed or embedded applications and high data-rate designs (e.g., 100/400G-class systems).
• Must-have: Strong FPGA design flow knowledge: RTL development (SystemVerilog, Verilog, or VHDL), simulation, synthesis, and timing closure.
• Must-have: Proven problem-solving and hands-on lab debug skills with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and hardware validation.
• Must-have: Experience with prototype bring-up, hardware testing, and production handoff.
• Must-have: US Citizenship is mandatory.
• Preferred: Active security clearance.
• Preferred: Leadership or mentorship experience and prior responsibility leading FPGA projects.
• Preferred technical experience: Xilinx Vivado/ISE toolchains and platforms (7-Series, Zynq MPSoC, Versal, UltraScale+), Vivado IP Integrator; AMD (Xilinx)/Intel/ Microchip FPGA platforms; Microchip Libero or Intel Quartus; ModelSim/Questa; board bring-up tools (integrated logic analyzers); TCL or automation scripting; signal integrity and high-speed serial interface IP.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field is required. Advanced degree is a plus.

About the Company

Company: Curtiss-Wright

Headquarters: Davidson, NC, United States

Curtiss-Wright is an engineering company that designs and manufactures products and services for the aerospace, defense, and industrial markets, specializing in embedded computing, avionics, and naval systems with a focus on modular open-systems solutions.