Senior FPGA Architect – High-Assurance & Secure Leadership

Gattaca; Maidenhead; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

Enhanced pension

Life assurance

Flexible working arrangements

Career progression

Security clearance allowance

Job summary

Gattaca seeks a Principal FPGA Engineer to drive FPGA and firmware architecture for high-assurance embedded systems in the UK. You will own design, integration and verification across the lifecycle, collaborating with systems, hardware and software specialists to deliver secure, high-performance solutions.

The role blends hands-on technical work with mentoring, leading reviews and shaping technical direction for complex programmes that require stringent quality and security standards.

Qualifications

• Proven expertise across the complete FPGA/Firmware development lifecycle.
• Experience with FPGA technologies such as Xilinx, Intel (Altera), Lattice or Microchip/Microsemi.
• Strong understanding of FPGA verification methodologies and tool flows.
• Experience with synchronous and asynchronous digital designs.
• Ability to interpret hardware schematics and interface specifications.
• Knowledge of SPI, I2C, UART/USART, TCP/IP and UDP communications.
• Experience with version control, change management and defect tracking tools.
• Strong systems thinking and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to lead and influence technical teams.
• Defence, aerospace, national security or other highly regulated engineering environments.
• Secure communications, cryptographic or high-assurance systems.
• Digital electronics and logic design.
• Continuous Integration and automated test environments.
• Requirements management and systems engineering tools.
• Exposure to structured engineering frameworks and lifecycle methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead FPGA architecture, design, development and verification activities across the full engineering lifecycle.
• Derive robust firmware requirements from system-level specifications.
• Create high-quality FPGA designs using industry best practices.
• Produce technical documentation, specifications and design artefacts.
• Drive requirement traceability, verification and validation activities.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring and guidance to engineering teams.
• Chair technical reviews and contribute to critical design decisions.
• Support project planning, estimation and risk management activities.
• Champion continuous improvement, innovation and engineering excellence.
• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex programmes.

Skills

FPGA lifecycle

FPGA technologies

FPGA verification methodologies

Digital design

Schematic interpretation

Communications protocols

Version control & defect tracking

Systems thinking

Technical leadership

Regulated environments

Secure communications

CI and automated tests

Requirements management

Engineering frameworks

Job description

Gattaca seeks a Principal FPGA Engineer to drive FPGA and firmware architecture for high-assurance embedded systems in the UK. You will own design, integration and verification across the lifecycle, collaborating with systems, hardware and software specialists to deliver secure, high-performance solutions.

The role blends hands-on technical work with mentoring, leading reviews and shaping technical direction for complex programmes that require stringent quality and security standards.