Principal FPGA Engineer

Job Title

Principal FPGA Engineer

Role Summary

Lead FPGA design, architecture, and delivery for weapon-system electronics in the Effector Guidance Electronics department. Develop production FPGA implementations across major vendors for RF/EO DSP, controls, data links, embedded processing, and high-speed serial interfaces.

Work end-to-end from requirements and architecture through verification, integration, and production while collaborating with systems, hardware, software teams, and program management.

Experience Level

Senior - typically requires a minimum of 8 years of relevant FPGA engineering experience.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include:

• Design and deliver production-quality FPGA releases from proof-of-concept through production.
• Lead FPGA-based system architecture, select parts and define interfaces.
• Translate system-level requirements into FPGA requirements and designs.
• Develop HDL code (VHDL) emphasizing reliability, maintainability, and reusability.
• Verify designs using directed and constrained-random tests; track functional and code coverage.
• Perform integration, debug, and timing closure; collaborate with circuit card designers and systems engineers.
• Create and maintain design documentation, verification plans, user guides, and configuration management artifacts.
• Participate in and lead technical reviews; drive projects independently to schedule and budget.

Requirements

Must-have skills and conditions:

• Active DoD Secret clearance required; U.S. citizenship required and ability to maintain a government security clearance.
• Proven experience architecting FPGA-based systems and defining parts and interfaces.
• Demonstrated competence in digital design and HDL coding targeting configurable logic devices.
• Experience delivering FPGA solutions into system-level applications and supporting production releases.
• Familiarity with multiple FPGA vendors and toolchains (Intel/Altera, AMD, Lattice, Microchip).
• Experience with integration and hardware debug tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters) and with FPGA timing constraints and timing closure.
• Experience with digital simulation tools (Questa, RivieraPro, or similar), IP cores, and industry-standard interfaces/protocols (AXI, PCIe, SPI, I2C).
• Programming experience in Python or C.

Nice-to-have / preferred:

• Knowledge of radar processing, image processing for visual/IR sensors, and gigabit/multi-gigabit transceivers.
• Experience with embedded processors/System-on-Chip in FPGAs (ARM, MicroBlaze, Nios) and Linux-based FPGA development environments.
• Familiarity with git/GitHub, encryption standards (AES, RSA, ECC), verification using hardware platforms, and system-level FPGA architecture development.
• Leadership experience (team lead, technical lead, project lead) and strong written/verbal communication.

Education Requirements

Typically requires a Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field. MS or Ph.D. in Electrical or Computer Engineering is preferred.

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.