Principal Systems Architect

IC Resources; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

EMI share options

Pension

Private health insurance

Job summary

IC Resources is seeking a Principal System Architect to lead the architectural direction of 5G communications products across software, FPGA and ASIC platforms. You will drive system decomposition, interface design and performance analysis while guiding cross-functional teams and customer engagements.

The role combines deep telecoms expertise with technical leadership, shaping product requirements and long-term architecture.

Qualifications

• Experience with 5G NR and 3GPP RAN specifications.
• Ability to define and lead complex system architectures across software/hardware.
• Experience collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams and customers.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural development of 5G, modem and signal-processing products across software, FPGA and ASIC.
• Define technical direction and evaluate trade-offs on performance, latency, power and verification.
• Provide technical leadership across requirements, decomposition and interface design.
• Collaborate with algorithm, software, FPGA and ASIC teams to resolve challenges.
• Lead discussions with customers and partners to guide IP integration.
• Evaluate strategies and support decisions as products progress.
• Contribute to product requirements, technology planning and long-term direction.
• Provide mentoring across disciplines.

Skills

5G NR / LTE PHY

System architecture leadership

Requirements management

Cross-functional leadership

Technical decision making

Tools

FPGA

ASIC

MATLAB

Python

C++

Job description

Our client is a technology company developing communications systems and signal-processing IP for commercial wireless applications.

They are looking for a Principal System Architect to provide technical leadership across the architecture and development of communications products targeting software, FPGA and ASIC platforms.

The Principal System Architect will take responsibility for establishing architectural direction, evaluating complex implementation trade-offs and ensuring alignment between system requirements, product development and engineering implementation.

The position combines deep communications expertise with cross-functional technical leadership and direct customer engagement, working across systems, algorithms, software, FPGA and ASIC engineering disciplines.

What you will be working on:

As a Principal System Architect, your responsibilities will include:

• Leading the architectural development of 5G communications, modem and signal-processing products across software, FPGA and ASIC deployment targets.
• Defining technical direction and evaluating architectural trade-offs involving performance, throughput, latency, resource utilisation, power and verification.
• Providing technical leadership across requirements definition, system decomposition, interface design, architectural modelling and performance analysis.
• Working closely with algorithm, software, FPGA and ASIC teams to resolve complex technical challenges and maintain architectural consistency.
• Leading technical discussions with customers and partners to understand system requirements, assess integration approaches and guide the application of communications IP.
• Evaluating implementation strategies and supporting architectural decisions as products progress through development and verification.
• Contributing to product requirements, technology planning and longer-term architectural direction based on engineering and customer requirements.
• Providing technical guidance, architectural reviews and mentoring to engineers across multiple disciplines.

What our client is looking for:

For this Principal System Architect position, our client is looking for someone with experience in:

• 5G NR or 4G LTE physical-layer technologies, including strong knowledge of 3GPP RAN specifications and wireless communications systems.
• Communications signal processing, modem architecture and radio systems engineering.
• Defining and leading complex system architectures, including requirements management, hardware/software partitioning and interface definition.
• Evaluating architectural and algorithmic trade-offs across software and hardware implementation approaches.
• FPGA and ASIC implementation considerations, including performance, latency, resource utilisation, power and verification.
• Providing cross-functional technical leadership and influencing engineering decisions across multiple development teams.
• Working directly with customers and partners on technical requirements, architectural studies and product integration.

Desirable experience includes communications IP development for FPGA or ASIC, satellite or Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) communications, hardware-accelerated DSP, fixed-point modelling and FPGA-to-ASIC migration. Experience with MATLAB, Python or C++, alongside technical roadmap development and mentoring, would also be beneficial.

Why consider this role?

This Principal System Architect opportunity offers significant influence over the technical direction of commercial communications IP, combining architectural ownership with customer-facing technical work and leadership across multiple engineering disciplines. The position offers exposure to FPGA and ASIC development, hybrid working, a performance-related bonus of up to 20%, EMI share options, pension and private health insurance.