Senior Embedded Systems Lead: Real-Time RTOS & FPGA Architect

Catalyst; North East; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Catalyst is seeking a Senior Embedded Systems Engineer in County Durham to lead the design of advanced embedded hardware and software. You will drive the full lifecycle from requirements to verification and production support in a fast-paced R&D environment.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with hardware teams, and ensure robust architectures, security, and performance across devices with MCU/FPGA platforms and IoT connectivity.

Qualifications

• Experience in embedded software development and hardware integration.
• Strong knowledge of ARM-based MCUs and peripherals.
• Proficient in C/C++ for embedded systems with real-time constraints.
• Experience with RTOS and embedded Linux environments.
• Familiarity with communication protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, Ethernet, USB).
• Experience with version control (Git) and software lifecycle processes.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity for embedded systems and functional safety standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of advanced embedded hardware/software.
• Define architectures and supervise system implementation.
• Mentor junior and senior engineers.
• Conduct design/code reviews and risk assessments.
• Develop software for microcontrollers, processors, and FPGA-based systems.
• Implement real-time software with RTOS platforms and IoT integration.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers on PCB bring-up and integration.
• Ensure quality, documentation, and regulatory compliance.

Skills

C/C++ for embedded

ARM Cortex / STM32 / NXP

RTOS (FreeRTOS/Zephyr/QNX/Embedded-Li

Networking protocols (SPI/I2C/UART/CAN

Git version control

Cybersecurity for embedded systems

FPGA development (VHDL/Verilog)

Education

Degree in electronics/embedded systems

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

CI/CD tooling

VHDL/Verilog tools

Job description

Catalyst is seeking a Senior Embedded Systems Engineer in County Durham to lead the design of advanced embedded hardware and software. You will drive the full lifecycle from requirements to verification and production support in a fast-paced R&D environment.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with hardware teams, and ensure robust architectures, security, and performance across devices with MCU/FPGA platforms and IoT connectivity.