Senior Design Engineer

Spectrum IT Recruitment; Southampton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Spectrum IT Recruitment is seeking an experienced Senior Design Engineer to help develop cutting-edge communications technology for global connectivity. The role focuses on next‑generation 5G non‑terrestrial networks and satellite‑based systems, taking designs from architecture to validation on space‑qualified hardware platforms.

You will design high‑performance RTL for FPGA/ASIC targets, optimise for throughput and power, and collaborate across multiple engineering teams within an Agile

Qualifications

• RTL design experience with Verilog/SystemVerilog.
• Experience delivering complex FPGA/ASIC designs.
• Knowledge of synthesis, timing analysis and power optimisation.
• Proficiency with industry-standard EDA tools.

Responsibilities

• Translate system and algorithm requirements into RTL micro-architectures.
• Design RTL using Verilog/SystemVerilog for FPGA and ASIC targets.
• Create testbenches and support functional verification.
• Deploy and validate designs on FPGA development platforms.
• Optimise designs for performance, timing, power and resources.
• Produce high‑quality technical documentation.
• Collaborate across architecture, verification, physical implementation and integration teams.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of engineering processes and design methodologies.

Skills

RTL design

FPGA design

ASIC design

Verilog

SystemVerilog

High-throughput processing

Synthesis & timing analysis

EDA tools

Technical documentation

Agile hardware development

Tools

Verilog

SystemVerilog

EDA tools

PCIe

Job description

We're looking for an experienced Senior Design Engineer to join a team developing cutting-edge communications technology that will help shape the future of global connectivity.

This is an opportunity to work on next-generation 5G non‑terrestrial networks developing digital hardware for satellite‑based communications systems that will play a key role in delivering worldwide mobile coverage.

Working as part of a highly skilled engineering team, you'll be involved in the design and implementation of high‑performance FPGA and ASIC solutions, taking products from architecture through to validation on the latest space‑qualified hardware platforms.

Key responsibilities

• Translating system and algorithm requirements into RTL micro‑architectures
• Designing and implementing RTL using Verilog/SystemVerilog for FPGA and ASIC targets
• Creating testbenches and supporting functional verification
• Deploying and validating designs on FPGA development platforms
• Optimising designs for performance, timing, power, and resource utilisation
• Producing high‑quality technical documentation
• Collaborating across architecture, verification, physical implementation, and integration teams
• Contributing to continuous improvement of engineering processes and design methodologies

Skills & Experience

• Strong RTL design experience using Verilog and/or SystemVerilog
• Proven background developing complex FPGA and ASIC designs
• Experience optimising digital hardware for high‑throughput signal or data processing
• Knowledge of synthesis, timing analysis, and power optimisation techniques
• Strong understanding of simulation and synthesis using industry‑standard EDA tools
• Experience producing technical design documentation
• Excellent collaboration skills with multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Experience working within Agile or structured hardware development lifecycles

Desirable experience

• Communications or wireless signal processing
• Error correction, channel estimation, equalisation, or beamforming algorithms
• AMBA bus protocols
• UVM verification methodologies
• C++ or SystemC modelling
• High‑speed interfaces such as PCIe or JESD
• Python or other scripting languages
• FPGA development using AMD/Xilinx devices
• ASIC backend flows and implementation tools

Spectrum IT Recruitment (South) Limited is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.