FPGA Engineer

Holt Executive Ltd; Farnborough; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering firm in the UK is seeking an experienced FPGA Engineer to contribute to innovative cyber and information assurance technologies. You will be responsible for the complete FPGA solution lifecycle, from requirements to production. The ideal candidate has strong VHDL design skills and proven experience in FPGA development. Join a collaborative team working on meaningful engineering challenges in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience delivering FPGA designs through the full development lifecycle.
• Hands-on experience integrating and debugging FPGA solutions in hardware.
• Familiarity with configuration management systems.

Responsibilities

• Own the FPGA solution from requirements through to development and production.
• Define FPGA architecture in collaboration with the wider development team.
• Develop test benches and perform system-level testing.

Skills

VHDL design and verification

FPGA design and development

Optimizing designs for performance

Integrating and debugging FPGA solutions

Tools

ModelSim

QuestaSim

Microchip devices

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.