Senior System Architect

Spectrum IT; England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Spectrum IT in the United Kingdom is seeking an experienced Senior System Architect to join a highly technical engineering team. The role spans from requirements through implementation across software, FPGA and ASIC technologies, blending architectural design with practical engineering to influence decisions and support delivery.

You'll translate system and customer requirements into scalable architectures, define hardware/software partitioning, evaluate trade-offs, develop architectural models,

Qualifications

• Experience in system architecture and requirements analysis.
• Strong background in signal processing or communications systems.
• Ability to define architectures across software, FPGA and ASIC.
• Familiar with MATLAB, Python and C++ for modelling.
• Knowledge of 3GPP standards, including 5G NR or 4G LTE.

Responsibilities

• Translate system, product and customer requirements into practical, scalable architectures.
• Define hardware/software partitioning, interfaces and implementation strategies.
• Evaluate design trade-offs across performance, throughput, latency, resource usage and power.
• Develop architectural models, conduct performance analysis and support verification planning.
• Collaborate with software, algorithm, FPGA and ASIC engineers throughout development.
• Work with customers and partners on technical requirements, feasibility studies and product integration.
• Contribute to future product development and architectural improvements.

Skills

System architecture

Requirements analysis

Technical design

Signal processing

Modem design

3GPP standards

5G NR

MATLAB

Python

C++

Communication skills

Tools

MATLAB

Python

C++

Job description

An exciting opportunity for an experienced Senior System Architect to join a highly technical engineering team developing advanced, high-performance technology. You will help shape complex products from initial requirements through to implementation, working across software, FPGA and ASIC technologies. Combining architectural design with practical engineering, you will influence technical decisions, evaluate implementation options and support delivery throughout the development lifecycle. This role would suit an experienced systems engineer or architect who enjoys solving complex technical problems and working closely with multidisciplinary teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Translate system, product and customer requirements into practical, scalable architectures.
• Define hardware/software partitioning, interfaces and implementation strategies.
• Evaluate design trade-offs across performance, throughput, latency, resource usage and power.
• Develop architectural models, conduct performance analysis and support verification planning.
• Collaborate with software, algorithm, FPGA and ASIC engineers throughout development.
• Work with customers and partners on technical requirements, feasibility studies and product integration.
• Contribute to future product development and architectural improvements.

Skills Required:

• Proven experience in system architecture, requirements analysis and technical design.
• A strong background in signal processing, modem design or communications systems.
• Experience defining hardware/software architectures and evaluating implementation constraints.
• Ability to assess architectural and algorithm trade-offs across software, FPGA and ASIC platforms.
• Proficiency in MATLAB, Python and C++ for modelling, analysis and development.
• Knowledge of 3GPP standards, including 5G NR or significant 4G LTE experience.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and communication skills.

Desirable Experience:

• Development of complex IP for FPGA or ASIC implementation.
• Taking products from FPGA-based designs towards ASIC deployment.
• Hardware acceleration and digital signal processing.
• Fixed-point design, modelling and implementation.
• Customer-facing technical collaboration.
• Contributions to product roadmaps, technology strategy or long-term architectural planning.

This is an opportunity to take ownership of challenging architectural work and influence how sophisticated technology is designed, developed, and delivered.