Principal FPGA Engineer

FINTEC recruit Ltd; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

FINTEC recruit Ltd is seeking a Senior / Principal FPGA Engineer in Edinburgh to design, verify, and deliver robust FPGA solutions across complex programmes. You will own technical activities, capture requirements, and work with Systems, Hardware and Software teams to ensure smooth integration.

The role emphasizes strong VHDL/Verilog design, independent verification, and experience with Mentor Graphics tools and major FPGA flows.

Qualifications

• Strong FPGA design experience using VHDL and Verilog.
• Experience with Mentor Graphics tools (HDL Designer, ModelSim/Questa, Precision).
• Knowledge of Xilinx, Intel/Altera or Microsemi Actel flows (ISE, Vivado, Quartus).
• Experience specifying timing/area constraints for FPGA place and route.
• Independent FPGA verification experience using VHDL.
• Requirements capture and requirements management experience.
• FPGA version control and revision control knowledge.
• Ability to derive FPGA requirements from system/hardware needs.
• Confident debugging and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Designing and developing FPGA solutions using VHDL-based techniques.
• Supporting verification using VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog.
• Collaborating with Systems, Hardware and Software teams for integration.
• Capturing requirements and translating them into FPGA requirements.
• Debugging FPGA designs and supporting hardware/system verification.
• Maintaining technical documentation and configuration management.
• Providing progress updates and coordinating engineering activities.

Job description

Senior / Principal FPGA Engineer

Are you an experienced FPGA Engineer looking for your next technically challenging role? We are recruiting for a Senior / Principal FPGA Engineer to support the design, development and verification of advanced FPGA solutions across complex engineering programmes.

This is a full time permanent role based in Edinburgh.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a global engineering services organisation working with major OEMs and contributing to high-impact technology projects in a collaborative, technically skilled environment.

Key focus: FPGA design, VHDL / Verilog development, independent verification, requirements capture, integration support and collaboration across Systems, Hardware and Software teams.

The Opportunity

As Senior / Principal FPGA Engineer, you will play a key role in developing robust FPGA designs and supporting their verification, integration and delivery. You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary engineering team, taking ownership of technical activities and helping to resolve complex design and integration challenges.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Designing and developing FPGA solutions using VHDL-based design techniques.
• Supporting verification activities using VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog and/or relevant methodologies.
• Working with Systems, Hardware and Software teams to support integration across complex systems.
• Capturing requirements and translating system or hardware needs into detailed FPGA requirements.
• Debugging FPGA designs and supporting hardware and system-level integration and verification.
• Maintaining clear technical documentation, configuration management and revision control.
• Providing progress updates, technical input and day-to-day coordination across engineering activities.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Strong FPGA design experience using VHDL and/or Verilog.
• Experience with Mentor Graphics tools, including HDL Designer, ModelSim / Questa and Precision.
• Knowledge of Xilinx, Intel / Altera or Microsemi / Actel design flows, including ISE, Vivado and Quartus.
• Experience specifying timing and area constraints for FPGA place and route.
• Independent FPGA verification experience using VHDL.
• Experience with requirements capture and requirements management tools.
• Understanding of FPGA version control, configuration management and revision control.
• Ability to derive detailed FPGA requirements from system and hardware-level requirements.
• Confident debugging FPGA designs and supporting integration at hardware and system level.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively across engineering disciplines.

Nice to Have

• Experience developing real-time, embedded or safety-critical FPGA designs, ideally to RTCA/DO-254 DAL A or B standards.
• SystemVerilog and/or UVM verification experience.
• Background in Aerospace, Defence or another highly regulated engineering environment.
• Experience with embedded processor cores, such as ARM, within FPGA designs.
• Familiarity with current FPGA device families.
• Experience working in an agile delivery environment.

Qualifications and Clearance

• Honours degree, or equivalent qualification, in Electronics Engineering or another STEM-related subject.
• UK citizenship is required to support background checks and obtain SC clearance.
• Current valid SC clearance would be beneficial.