Principal FPGA Firmware Engineer – Hybrid Defence Tech

Morson Edge; Crawley; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Pension with employer contributions

Flexible working; hybrid

Job summary

Thales seeks a Principal Firmware (FPGA) Engineer to design and deliver high-performance firmware for mission-critical defence and aerospace systems. You will own FPGA-based design across the full development lifecycle, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams in systems, hardware, and software engineering.

The role emphasizes architecture, verification, and continuous process improvement. The ideal candidate has strong FPGA firmware experience, VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog expertise, and a

Qualifications

• Strong experience developing firmware for FPGA-based systems.
• Expertise in VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog.
• Experience with simulation and verification tools (ModelSim/QuestaSim).
• Solid understanding of digital design and hardware/software integration.
• Ability to contribute to or lead design and architecture activities.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop firmware using VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog.
• Lead or contribute to firmware architecture and design decisions.
• Verify and validate firmware using simulation and testbench environments.
• Collaborate with systems, hardware, and software engineers to deliver integrated solutions.
• Support requirements definition, design reviews, and technical decision-making.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of firmware processes (automation, scripting).
• Use industry-standard tools for FPGA and SoC development.
• Support integration activities, including occasional work at customer/test sites.

Skills

FPGA firmware

VHDL

Verilog/SystemVerilog

ModelSim/QuestaSim

Digital design

HW/SW integration

Team collaboration

Tools

ModelSim

QuestaSim

Linux

MATLAB

DOORS

Job description

Thales seeks a Principal Firmware (FPGA) Engineer to design and deliver high-performance firmware for mission-critical defence and aerospace systems. You will own FPGA-based design across the full development lifecycle, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams in systems, hardware, and software engineering.

The role emphasizes architecture, verification, and continuous process improvement. The ideal candidate has strong FPGA firmware experience, VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog expertise, and a