FPGA and DSP Team Lead

DroneShield; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

DroneShield seeks an experienced FPGA & DSP Team Lead in Sydney to lead the FPGA & DSP Engineering team, combining leadership with hands-on engineering.

Responsibilities include RF detection product development using SDRs, FPGAs, and advanced signal processing, with a focus on high-bandwidth, low-latency architectures and Agile/CI/CD practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering or related field.
• Proven experience leading FPGA/DSP teams.
• Expert FPGA development with Verilog/VHDL/SystemVerilog.
• Experience with Vivado, Quartus or Vitis.
• C/C++ firmware for FPGA-based systems; Python scripting.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor FPGA/DSP engineers in RF detection products.
• Plan workloads, schedules and deliverables for the team.
• Oversee design, verification, and deployment of high-throughput FPGA architectures.
• Collaborate with hardware and software teams to optimise performance.

Skills

FPGA leadership

Verilog

VHDL

SystemVerilog

C/C++ firmware

Python

Linux

DSP concepts

RF systems

Machine learning concepts

Team leadership

Agile methodologies

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering

Tools

Vivado

Quartus

Vitis

Job description

Work with cutting-edge AI technology that helps make the world a safer and more secure place. DroneShield (ASX:DRO) develops market-leading counter-drone solutions used by military organisations, government agencies, airports, critical infrastructure operators, and law enforcement operating in some of the most challenging and high-stakes environments in the world. Employees work at the forefront of innovation, solving complex technical problems and delivering mission-critical capabilities where performance, reliability, and speed matter.

As an ASX200-listed company and the world's only publicly listed pure-play counter-drone business, DroneShield is experiencing rapid growth. Revenue increased from A$57 million in 2024 to more than A$217 million in 2025, supported by record profitability, a global sales pipeline exceeding A$2.5 billion, and annual R&D investment of over A$50 million.

Since 2017, DroneShield has grown from 11 employees to more than 550 globally, with operations across Australia, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, supporting customers in over 70 countries.

The role is based at DroneShield's Sydney headquarters, which houses corporate, commercial, engineering, and operational teams supporting the company's global growth and customer base.

About The Role

DroneShield is seeking an experienced FPGA & DSP Team Lead to lead the FPGA & DSP Engineering team in Sydney, Australia. Reporting to the Hardware Manager, Embedded Systems, this role combines technical leadership with hands-on engineering responsibilities.

The primary focus of the position is the development and advancement of RF Detection and Defeat products using Software-Defined Radios (SDRs), FPGAs, and advanced signal processing technologies.

Responsibilities, Duties And Expectations

Technical Leadership

• Lead and support a team of FPGA and DSP engineers developing electronic warfare products using Agile development methodologies and best-practice project management techniques
• Assign and prioritise work across the team, balancing technical trade-offs and business objectives
• Maintain project plans, resource forecasts, and workforce planning activities, including quarterly planning sessions
• Provide regular updates to management on team progress, risks, dependencies, and project status
• Collaborate with other engineering leaders to establish consistent processes, tools, and ways of working aligned with industry best practice
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, performance and development discussions, and support professional growth through training and development opportunities

Technical Contribution

• Design and implement RF solutions, FPGA applications, ARM-based embedded systems, digital signal processing algorithms, and machine learning implementations
• Research, design, and develop complex multi-FPGA architectures for high-bandwidth, low-latency embedded systems
• Design and implement embedded MPSoC platforms supporting real-time wide-bandwidth (>1 GHz) RF digital signal processing applications
• Enhance the performance, accuracy, reliability, maintainability, and scalability of DroneShield's core technologies
• Develop and improve automated verification and validation (V&V) frameworks that support Agile and CI/CD development practices
• Develop and maintain reliable automated build and deployment systems

Qualifications, Experience And Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience
• Demonstrated experience working effectively within engineering teams and providing technical leadership
• Strong experience developing, debugging, and verifying FPGA designs using Verilog, VHDL, or SystemVerilog
• Experience with FPGA development environments such as Vivado (preferred), Quartus, Vitis, or equivalent tools.
• Experience designing high-throughput, low-latency, fully pipelined FPGA architectures
• Experience developing and implementing automated verification and validation frameworks
• Experience writing C/C++ firmware for FPGA-based systems, with proficiency in Python or other scripting languages preferred
• Experience working in Linux-based development environments
• Experience interpreting PCB schematics, performing board bring-up activities, and debugging hardware issues.
• Understanding of RF systems, RF transmission protocols, and related engineering principles
• Strong knowledge of digital signal processing concepts and implementation techniques
• Exposure to, or practical experience with, machine learning concepts and FPGA-based implementation

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