Senior FPGA Firmware Engineer UNB029

ALL.SPACE; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company in Reading is seeking a firmware developer specializing in FPGA firmware to join their expert team. The ideal candidate will have a solid background in electronic engineering and experience with digital design. The role offers excellent benefits, including a competitive salary, hybrid working, and access to a gym alongside career development opportunities.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Bonus and stock options

Career development training

Cycle to Work scheme

Free gym access

Qualifications

• At least two years' experience as a firmware developer is advantageous.
• Experience with Xilinx FPGAs is a plus.
• Good interpersonal skills required.

Responsibilities

• Develop FPGA firmware to industry standards.
• Develop testbenches for FPGA firmware and perform the verification.
• Support integration efforts as required.

Skills

Robust electronic engineering skills

Binary number arithmetic

Digital logic design at Register Transfer Level (RTL)

HDL programming (VHDL or Verilog)

Education

University degree in Electrical, Communications, or related engineering discipline

PhD in a relevant field

Tools

Xilinx design suite (Vivado, Vitis, Petalinux, etc.)

Use of bench equipment (spectrum analyser, oscilloscope)

Linux

Git

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

At ALL.SPACE we are fortunate to produce stand‑alone phased‑array antennas. This means that we cover the entire electronics spectrum. We design and produce the electronics hardware (power, analogue, digital, and RF), as well as the firmware and software that runs on our hardware. FPGAs are crucial elements of our antennas, and our FPGA firmware designers undertake the whole of the development process: from negotiation of requirements and initial design architecture, through to formal validation and verification of the design. The work is extremely challenging but incredibly rewarding. You will work within a small team of firmware engineers who are experts in their field. Although the primary role is to develop firmware for deployment into an FPGA, you may also get the opportunity to write software for our products and test systems or use Matlab to generate and analyse test data or simulate DSP algorithms. One thing is for sure: you will be contributing to our unique and novel antennas within an enthusiastic and supportive team.

Responsibilities

• Develop FPGA firmware to industry standards, that implements signal processing functions, glue logic, and high-speed interfaces.
• Develop testbenches for FPGA firmware and perform the verification.
• Develop firmware for complex FPGAs, SoCs, and PLDs.
• Test firmware on system hardware.
• Support integration efforts as required.
• Develop and agree development plans with the team leader and work towards the plan to deliver firmware on time.
• Review firmware code developed by peers.
• Contribute towards miscellaneous firmware team activities.

Requirements

• Education
  • University degree in Electrical, Communications, or related engineering discipline (first or upper‑second class)
  • PhD would be a significant advantage.
• Soft skills
  • Proactive "can-do" mentality
  • Ability to present information and communicate using well‑thought‑out responses; both verbal and written
  • Good interpersonal skills
• Required Technical skills
  • Robust electronic engineering skills
  • Binary number arithmetic
  • Digital logic design at Register Transfer Level (RTL)
  • HDL programming (VHDL or Verilog)
• Following skills and experience are advantageous
  • At least two years' experience as a firmware developer
  • FPGA firmware architecture design
  • Signal processing theory of RF signals, ADC and DAC
  • Digital electronic design
  • Digital signal processing (DSP) design
  • Experience with Xilinx FPGAs (RFSoC, MPSoC, Ultrascale+, etc.)
  • Experience with Xilinx design suite (Vivado, Vitis, Petalinux, etc.)
  • Use of bench equipment (e.g. spectrum analyser, oscilloscope, RF signal generator, network analyser)
  • Linux
  • Git
  • TCL
  • C programming
  • Microsoft Office Suite

Please note

Due to the work that needs to be carried out we are ideally looking for someone to be in the office at least 3 days a week.

Benefits

• Excellent compensation package inclusive of competitive salary, pension, and 25 days holiday in addition to the UK bank holidays
• Bonus and stock options package
• Career development training opportunities (in‑house and external)
• Hybrid working
• Cycle to Work and Employee Referral schemes
• 24/7 access to discount platform across 900 retailers
• 24/7 access to the Well‑being Centre and Employee Assistance Hotline
• Free access to a gym