Field-Programmable Gate Arrays Engineer

Radley James; New York (NY); On-site; USD 240,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

Radley James is seeking a Senior FPGA Engineer in New York City to build and lead a new FPGA capability from day one. You will define architecture, tooling and standards while partnering with quantitative researchers, traders and software engineers to create hardware-accelerated trading solutions.

The role emphasizes ownership, full lifecycle delivery from concept to production, and close collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams in a fast-paced, performance-driven environment.

Qualifications

• Hands-on FPGA engineering experience.
• Strong SystemVerilog and/or VHDL expertise.
• Experience with low-latency electronic trading or similar systems.
• Understanding of FPGA architecture and HW/SW integration.
• Ability to make high-level architectural decisions autonomously.

Responsibilities

• Design and build a low-latency FPGA platform from first principles.
• Develop FPGA solutions for electronic trading and market-data processing.
• Collaborate with traders and researchers to identify acceleration opportunities.
• Own architecture and technical decisions across the FPGA environment.
• Integrate FPGA tech into the wider trading and research stack.
• Take projects from concept to production lifecycle.
• Help establish engineering standards as the FPGA capability grows.

Skills

FPGA engineering

SystemVerilog/VHDL

low-latency design

hardware/software integration

architectural decision making

autonomy

collaboration

Education

BS in CS/EE or related

Tools

FPGA toolchains

Job description

Location: New York City

I’m working with a highly successful quantitative investment firm looking to hire a Senior FPGA Engineer to build and lead its FPGA capability from the ground up.

This is not a maintenance or incremental development position. You’ll have the opportunity to define the architecture, tooling and technical standards for a new FPGA platform, working directly with quantitative researchers, traders and software engineers to identify where hardware acceleration can deliver a genuine trading advantage.

What you’ll be doing:

• Design and build a low-latency FPGA platform from first principles
• Develop FPGA solutions for electronic trading and market-data processing
• Work closely with traders and quantitative researchers to identify opportunities for hardware acceleration
• Own architecture and technical decisions across the FPGA environment
• Integrate FPGA technology into the wider trading and research stack
• Take projects through the full lifecycle from initial concept and design to production
• Help establish engineering standards and best practices as the FPGA capability grows

What we’re looking for:

• Significant hands-on FPGA engineering experience
• Strong SystemVerilog and/or VHDL expertise
• Previous experience with low-latency electronic trading, market data or similarly performance-sensitive systems
• Strong understanding of FPGA architecture and hardware/software integration
• Ability to operate with significant autonomy and make high-level architectural decisions
• Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate directly with quantitative and software engineering teams

The key attraction is ownership: rather than inheriting a mature FPGA stack, you’ll have the mandate to determine how the platform should be designed and built from day one.

Compensation: $250K–$400K base + significant performance-driven bonus. Total compensation can be substantially higher for exceptional candidates.