FPGA Engineer

Holt Executive; Farnborough; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Holt Executive is seeking an experienced FPGA Engineer to join a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary engineering team working on innovative cyber and information assurance technologies. You’ll contribute to the design, development, and testing of secure digital solutions used across critical communication and defence environments.

This role offers the chance to work on complex FPGA designs, combining industry-standard and custom interfaces, and to be involved across the full engineering lifecycle,

Qualifications

• Proven experience delivering FPGA designs through the full development lifecycle.
• Strong VHDL design and verification skills.
• Experience optimising designs for performance and power consumption.
• Hands-on experience integrating and debugging FPGA solutions in hardware.
• Familiarity with configuration management systems.
• Experience with Microchip devices and Libero (advantageous).
• Verification experience using ModelSim/QuestaSim (UVM beneficial).

Responsibilities

• Own the FPGA solution from requirements through to development and production.
• Lead requirements elicitation and translate them into FPGA implementations.
• Define FPGA architecture in collaboration with the wider development team.
• Work with the Project Manager to plan, track and deliver against agreed schedules.
• Coordinate other FPGA engineers on specific design activities (if needed).
• Interface with FPGA vendors and third‑party IP suppliers.
• Develop test benches and perform system‑level testing.
• Support proposal preparation, estimation activities, and contribute to technical white papers.

Skills

FPGA design

VHDL

Verification (ModelSim/QuestaSim)

Power/performance optimization

Hardware debugging

CM tools

Libero (Microchip)

Third-party IP integration

Tools

ModelSim/QuestaSim

Libero

Job description

A fantastic opportunity has opened for an experienced FPGA Engineer to join a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary engineering team working on innovative cyber and information assurance technologies. You’ll contribute to the design, development, and testing of secure digital solutions used across critical communication and defence environments.

This role offers the chance to work on complex FPGA designs, combining industry-standard and custom interfaces, and to be involved across the full engineering lifecycle, from requirements and architecture through to implementation, verification, and production.

Applicants must have, or be eligible to obtain, UK SC clearance.

What You’ll Be Doing As An FPGA Engineer

• Own the FPGA solution from requirements through to development and production
• Lead requirements elicitation and translate them into FPGA implementations
• Define FPGA architecture in collaboration with the wider development team
• Work with the Project Manager to plan, track and deliver against agreed schedules
• Potentially coordinate other FPGA engineers on specific design activities
• Interface with FPGA vendors and third‑party IP suppliers
• Develop test benches and perform system‑level testing
• Support proposal preparation, estimation activities, and contribute to technical white papers

What Experience Will You Need As An FPGA Engineer

• Proven experience delivering FPGA designs through the full development lifecycle
• Strong VHDL design and verification skills
• Experience optimising designs for performance and power consumption
• Hands‑on experience integrating and debugging FPGA solutions in hardware
• Familiarity with configuration management systems
• Experience with Microchip devices and Libero (advantageous)
• Verification experience using ModelSim/QuestaSim (UVM beneficial)

Desirable Experience For The FPGA Engineer

• Requirements management using DOORs
• SmartFusion, IGLOO or PolarFire devices
• PCIe NVMe and FPGA‑based implementations
• Xilinx or Altera device/toolchain experience
• Working with third‑party IP cores
• Design for security principles
• Embedded firmware (C/C++/assembler)
• Understanding of cryptographic standards and algorithms
• Integration of FPGAs into wider hardware platforms

Why Join

You’ll be working with a highly skilled team solving challenging, meaningful engineering problems with real-world impact. Expect a collaborative culture, complex technical work, and the opportunity to grow your expertise across FPGA, embedded systems and secure digital design.