Embedded Systems Engineer (Medical Devices)

Black Canyon Consulting; Ashburn (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) plan with employer contribution

Paid holidays and vacation

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Black Canyon Consulting in Ashburn, VA is seeking an Embedded Systems Engineer to own the hardware side of medical devices. You will work on digital logic, FPGA-centric hardware, and collaborate with our software lead who handles Linux and drivers.

You will grow into FPGA ownership over the first year as we transition FPGA work from an external partner. This role offers practical hands-on work, with opportunity to contribute to design verification, testing, and production readiness.

Qualifications

• 2–4 years of hands-on embedded or digital design experience.
• Written HDL that was used in real designs (Verilog/SystemVerilog/VHDL) with timing/simulation.
• End-to-end FPGA toolchain experience (Xilinx Vivado) and ability to read/read partner designs.
• Designed a schematic for a board (Altium, KiCad, OrCAD).
• Low-level C/C++/Rust development experience.
• Python for scripting and data analysis.
• Comfort with oscilloscope and logic analyzer.
• Familiarity with SPI, I2C, UART and their FPGA implementations.
• Knowledge of DSP, DDR interfaces or high-speed signaling.

Responsibilities

• Write and verify synthesizable HDL and meet timing on real designs.
• Draw board-level schematics for FPGA-centric hardware.
• Bring boards up on the bench and debug issues.
• Work with a layout engineer on stack-up and routing.
• Write Python to automate hardware testing.
• Contribute to design documentation and quality system.
• Grow into architectural ownership of FPGA designs.

Skills

Embedded design

HDL coding

FPGA toolchain

Schematic drawing

Low-level C/C++/Rust

Python

Oscilloscope/logic analyzer

SPI/I2C/UART

DSP/DDR/high-speed signaling

Tools

Xilinx Vivado

Altium

KiCad

OrCAD

Job description

Embedded Systems Engineer (Medical Devices)

Ashburn, VA

Overview

We design and build medical devices. The engineering team is small, which means you'll own real work early and see your designs go into products that reach patients.
You'd own the digital logic and board-level hardware side of our systems. Our embedded software lead handles Linux, device drivers, and application code. You won't be asked to do everything. You'd be the hardware half of a two-person core.

One thing we want to be upfront about: our advanced FPGA development is currently done by an engineering partner firm. We intend to bring that work in-house, and this role is how we do it. You'd start by working alongside their engineers and grow into owning it over your first year or two. This process involves reading their designs, contributing to those designs and learning the architecture. This is a funded, planned transition, and the partner firm knows and supports it. They'll continue working with us on other projects.

That means we're not expecting you to walk in and architect an FPGA on day one. We're looking for someone with strong fundamentals who wants to grow into that ownership with real support while doing it.

What you'd actually do

• Write and verify synthesizable HDL, and close timing on real designs
• Draw board-level schematics for FPGA-centric hardware: component selection, power architecture, clock distribution, peripheral and memory interfaces
• Bring boards up on the bench and debug what doesn't work
• Work with a layout engineer on stack-up and routing
• Write Python to automate hardware testing so we stop doing it by hand
• Contribute to design documentation and verification within our quality system
• Grow into architectural ownership of our FPGA designs

What we need you to have done already

• 2–4 years of hands-on embedded or digital design work
• Written HDL that went somewhere real. Verilog, SystemVerilog, or VHDL. You've simulated it, synthesized it, and dealt with timing.
• Used an FPGA toolchain end-to-end. We use Xilinx and Vivado. If your experience is Intel/Quartus, Lattice, or something else, the fundamentals transfer and we'll get you up to speed.
• Drawn a schematic yourself. Altium, KiCad, OrCAD, whatever. We mean designed a board, not reviewed someone else's.
• Written C, C++, or Rust (preferred) at a low level.
• Python for scripting and data analysis.
• Comfort with an oscilloscope and a logic analyzer. You should be the kind of engineer who reaches for a probe before a forum post.
• Working knowledge of SPI, I2C, and UART and their FPGA implementations (IP Block or hand coded HDL).
• Working knowledge of DSP, DDR interfaces, or high-speed signal integrity

Helpful, but genuinely not required

We don't expect any one candidate to have all of these. Tell us which ones you have and we'll take it from there.

• Xilinx Vivado/Vitis specifically, or AXI interconnect
• Zynq, MPSoC, or SoC design
• Precision analog front-ends, ADCs, DACs, power management ICs
• Work in a regulated environment: medical, aerospace, automotive safety
• Kernel driver experience. Take a hardware design and implement a Linux kernel driver.

Who does well here

Someone who's honest about the edges of what they know. Someone who'd rather ask a question than guess. Someone who's willing to do the unglamorous parts: writing the test fixture, updating the schematic, and documenting the design. These are the things that allow the hardware to enter production and actually ship.
If you're strong in one area and thin in another, apply anyway and tell us which is which.

Benefits and Salary

We attract the best people in the business with our competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage; a 401(k) plan with employer contribution; paid holidays, vacation, and tuition reimbursement.

We offer a competitive salary commensurate with experience and location.If you enjoy being part of a high-performing, professional, technology-focused organization, please apply today!

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Black Canyon Consulting’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.