FPGA Engineer - Electronic Warfare

Alta Ares; Paris; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Alta Ares in France is seeking an experienced FPGA engineer to own RTL development for electronic warfare and signals intelligence hardware. You will work with systems and algorithm engineers to define processing requirements and validate designs on target hardware.

Responsibilities include building RTL modules in VHDL or SystemVerilog for RF signal processing, adapting DSP algorithms for FPGA, and bringing up designs on SoC FPGAs with rigorous verification and documentation.

Qualifications

• MSc in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Signal Processing, or a related field.
• Strong RTL development and verification experience in VHDL or SystemVerilog for DSP-focused projects.
• Hands-on experience implementing designs on SoC FPGAs, including synthesis, placement/route, timing analysis, and hardware debugging.
• Solid understanding of sampled signals, frequency conversion, digital filtering, spectral analysis, and fixed-point math.
• Ability to reason across FPGA, processor, and RF hardware boundaries when making design decisions.
• Experience modelling algorithms and comparing reference models with hardware results; familiarity with MATLAB, Simulink, Python, or HLS is a plus.
• Familiarity with RF measurements and lab equipment (spectrum analyzers, signal generators, oscilloscopes) is a plus.
• Prior experience in electronic warfare is welcome but not required.

Responsibilities

• Own the development of FPGA functions for electronic warfare and signals intelligence from architecture to hardware validation.
• Define processing requirements with systems and algorithm engineers and assess feasibility.
• Build RTL modules in VHDL or SystemVerilog to process digitized RF signals.
• Adapt and validate DSP algorithms for FPGA implementation, balancing numerical accuracy, processing speed, and hardware resources.
• Integrate acquisition and processing chains, including digital down-conversion, filtering, channelization, FFT, detection, direction-finding, and classification.
• Establish verification methods and testbenches to check functional behavior and performance throughout development.
• Connect programmable logic to RF converters and embedded processors, defining data transfers, control interfaces, clocking, and synchronization.
• Resolve implementation constraints, achieve timing closure, and optimize resource utilization and power consumption.
• Bring up FPGA designs on target boards, investigate integration issues, and correlate measured behavior with simulation results.
• Contribute to laboratory and field testing alongside RF, software, and systems engineers.
• Maintain clear design records, interface specifications, and validation evidence.
• Improve reusable FPGA components and development practices as the product portfolio grows.

Skills

RTL development (VHDL/SystemVerilog)

DSP for FPGA

MATLAB/Simulink/Python (plus)

Education

MSc in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

SoC FPGA tools

Synthesis & timing analysis

RF measurement tools

Job description

About Alta Ares

Alta Ares is an air defense Neoprime. We build AI-guided interceptors to counter drones and cruise missiles, along with the software platform that powers them.

Our customers are NATO-aligned militaries and defense institutions, and our systems are regularly deployed during live exercises and operational demonstrations across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Founded in 2024, we have grown to 90 people, raised over $60M, and increased revenue 40× this year. We are now entering a new phase of international expansion, industrial scaling, fundraising, and product development.

Role & Mission

• Own the development of FPGA functions for our electronic warfare and signals intelligence capabilities, from initial architecture to validation on operational hardware.

• Work with systems and algorithm engineers to define processing requirements and assess implementation feasibility.

• Build RTL modules in VHDL or SystemVerilog to process digitized RF signals, extract relevant information, and generate waveforms.

• Adapt and validate DSP algorithms for FPGA implementation, balancing numerical accuracy, processing speed, and hardware resources.

• Integrate acquisition and processing chains, including digital down-conversion, filtering, channelization, FFT, detection, direction-finding, and classification.

• Establish verification methods and testbenches to check functional behavior and performance throughout development.

• Connect programmable logic to RF converters and embedded processors, defining data transfers, control interfaces, clocking, and synchronization.

• Resolve implementation constraints, achieve timing closure, and optimize resource utilization and power consumption.

• Bring up FPGA designs on target boards, investigate integration issues, and correlate measured behavior with simulation results.

• Contribute to laboratory and field testing alongside RF, software, and systems engineers.

• Maintain clear design records, interface specifications, and validation evidence.

• Improve reusable FPGA components and development practices as the product portfolio grows.

Candidate Profile

• MSc in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Signal Processing, or a related field.

• Strong experience developing and verifying RTL in VHDL or SystemVerilog, with a focus on digital signal processing.

• Practical experience implementing designs on SoC FPGAs, including synthesis, implementation, timing analysis, and hardware debugging.

• Strong understanding of sampled signals, frequency conversion, digital filtering, spectral analysis, and fixed-point numerical behavior.

• Ability to reason across FPGA, processor, and RF hardware boundaries when making design decisions.

• Experience modelling algorithms and comparing reference models with hardware results; familiarity with MATLAB, Simulink, Python, or HLS is a plus.

• Familiarity with RF measurements and laboratory equipment, including spectrum analyzers, signal generators, and oscilloscopes, is a plus.

• Prior experience in electronic warfare is welcome but not required.

Skills & Qualities

• Hands-on engineer who enjoys taking designs from simulation to working hardware.

• Methodical approach to debugging, with the ability to isolate problems across complex signal chains.

• Able to own a technical scope independently and communicate progress, risks, and trade-offs clearly.

• Rigorous approach to verification, documentation, and design traceability.

• Comfortable collaborating across disciplines and adapting to evolving product requirements.

• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to operate autonomously in a fast-growing company.

• High integrity and professionalism in handling sensitive defense technologies.