Senior Principal FPGA Design Engineer

Job Title

Senior Principal FPGA Design Engineer

Role Summary

Join the Electronic Combat Solutions Hardware Engineering Group to lead FPGA design through all development phases: requirements, architecture, RTL, synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, verification, lab debug, and product support. This is a full-time, on-site engineering role supporting defense/aerospace systems.

Experience Level

Senior — typically 8+ years of relevant FPGA/ASIC design experience (less experience may be acceptable with an advanced degree).

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include:

• Translate system requirements into FPGA micro-architecture and detailed RTL designs.
• Develop and own RTL (VHDL or Verilog), synthesis constraints, and timing closure.
• Perform floorplanning, place-and-route, static timing analysis, and clock-domain crossing mitigation.
• Develop basic test benches and support functional simulation and verification activities.
• Lead lab bring-up, debug boards, validate interfaces (SERDES, PCIe, DDRx, LVDS), and resolve hardware/firmware issues.
• Provide product support and lifecycle updates; mentor junior engineers and collaborate with cross-functional teams.

Requirements

Must-have skills and qualifications:

• Current Secret security clearance or ability to obtain one.
• Significant hands-on experience in FPGA or ASIC design and development.
• Proficiency in VHDL or Verilog for RTL development.
• Experience with Xilinx Vivado or Intel/Altera Quartus flows.
• Experience with digital simulation tools such as ModelSim or Questa.
• Strong knowledge of static timing analysis and clock domain crossing techniques.
• Experience with high-speed interfaces (SERDES, PCIe, DDR2/3/4, LVDS).
• Familiarity with revision control systems (e.g., Git, CVS, Subversion, ClearCase).
• Ability to write scripts for automation (Perl, Tcl, Python, shell, etc.).
• Strong debugging, problem-solving, written, and oral communication skills; team player and self-starter.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience leading design teams or taking technical lead roles.
• Experience modifying/enhancing legacy FPGA designs and working with verification teams.
• Experience with hardware lab debug and data conversion techniques (ADC/DAC).

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field required; an advanced degree (MS/PhD) may reduce the years-of-experience requirement. Equivalent practical experience accepted.

Salary range: $126,610 - $215,270 per year.

About the Company

Company: BAE Systems

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Global defense, aerospace and security company delivering products and services for air, land and naval forces, advanced electronics, cyber and intelligence solutions, and space and mission systems for government and commercial customers.