FPGA Design Engineer

ACE Partners; Connecticut; On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

ACE Partners is seeking an FPGA Design Engineer for a leading aerospace organization in Connecticut. The role focuses on developing FPGA/PLD hardware for safety-critical aerospace applications and spans requirements through production release.

You will work with electrical, systems, software, and mechanical teams to define technical requirements, architectures and verification strategies, ensuring DO-254 alignment and rigorous test procedures.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or closely related discipline.
• At least three years of professional FPGA/PLD/complex digital-hardware design experience.
• Hands-on experience with VHDL, Verilog or SystemVerilog.
• Strong understanding of digital circuit design and FPGA development workflows.
• Experience with simulation, verification, hardware integration and laboratory troubleshooting.
• Ability to develop technical requirements, design documentation and engineering reports.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Aerospace, avionics or safety-critical electronic hardware experience is preferred.
• Knowledge of DO-254 and certification processes is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develop FPGA, PLD and complex digital hardware for safety-critical aerospace applications.
• Translate system needs into hardware requirements and interfaces.
• Produce FPGA architectures, block diagrams and interface definitions.
• Design, implement and verify programmable-logic functionality using HDL and tools.
• Perform simulations and analyze digital circuits and analog interfaces.
• Develop verification strategies, test procedures and compliance docs.
• Support design reviews, customer reviews and certification activities.
• Prepare for DO-254 stage audits where applicable.
• Conduct hardware integration, lab bring-up and troubleshooting with standard instruments.
• Support design assurance, environmental and qualification testing.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve issues and maintain schedules.
• Provide realistic estimates for tasks and support cost commitments.
• Ensure designs meet reliability, manufacturability and performance objectives.
• Assist transitions from development into production.

Skills

VHDL

Verilog

SystemVerilog

FPGA design

Digital hardware

DO-254

RTL design

LabVIEW

MATLAB

Simulink

ModelSim

Vivado

Quartus

Libero

Mentor PADS

DxDesigner

HyperLynx

LTspice

Python

C/C++

DOORS

Synergy

Omnify

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or closely related discipline

Tools

Vivado

Quartus

Libero

ModelSim

QuestaSim

DxDesigner

PADS

HyperLynx

LTspice

MATLAB

Simulink

LabVIEW

DOORS

Synergy

Omnify

Job description

ACE Partners is supporting a leading aerospace engineering and manufacturing organization in the search for an FPGA Design Engineer.

The business designs and manufactures advanced electronic control products used across commercial, business and military aerospace applications. Its engineering teams develop safety-critical hardware that supports engine control, actuation, motor control, sensor interfacing, power conditioning and digital communication systems.

This position is based onsite Connecticut and offers the opportunity to contribute to the complete development lifecycle of complex airborne electronic hardware, from initial requirements and architecture through validation, certification and production release.

The Role

The FPGA Design Engineer will develop custom programmable-logic and digital-electronics solutions for advanced aerospace control systems.

You will work closely with electrical, systems, software, mechanical and program teams to define technical requirements, develop FPGA and PLD architectures, verify designs and support products through qualification and production release.

The successful candidate will be a hands on engineer with strong FPGA or PLD design experience, a good understanding of the surrounding electronics and the ability to troubleshoot hardware in a laboratory environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop FPGA, PLD and other complex electronic hardware for safety-critical aerospace applications.
• Translate system-level needs into clear hardware and programmable-logic requirements.
• Produce FPGA and digital-system architectures, block diagrams and interface definitions.
• Design, implement and verify programmable-logic functionality using appropriate HDL and development tools.
• Perform simulation and analysis of digital circuits and associated analogue interfaces.
• Develop verification strategies, test procedures, compliance documentation and technical reports.
• Support internal design reviews, customer reviews and certification activities.
• Prepare for and participate in DO-254 stage-of-involvement audits where applicable.
• Conduct hardware integration, laboratory bring-up and troubleshooting using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, meters, power supplies, programmers and data-acquisition systems.
• Support design-assurance, environmental and qualification testing.
• Work with cross-functional engineering teams to resolve technical issues and maintain program delivery.
• Produce realistic estimates for engineering tasks and support program cost and schedule commitments.
• Ensure designs meet reliability, manufacturability, cost, weight and performance objectives.
• Support the transition of new products from engineering development into production.
• Communicate technical progress and risks to internal stakeholders, customers and external compliance representatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or a closely related discipline.
• At least three years of professional FPGA, PLD or complex digital-hardware design experience.
• Hands-on experience with VHDL, Verilog or SystemVerilog.
• Strong understanding of digital circuit design and FPGA development workflows.
• Knowledge of analogue interfacing around FPGA or PLD-based systems.
• Experience with simulation, verification, hardware integration and laboratory troubleshooting.
• Ability to develop technical requirements, design documentation, plans, procedures and engineering reports.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively within a multidisciplinary engineering environment.
• Aerospace, avionics, engine-control or other safety-critical electronic-hardware experience.
• Working knowledge of RTCA DO-254.
• Experience supporting certification reviews, SOI audits, DERs or ODAs.
• FPGA applications involving actuator controls, motor controls, sensor interfaces, communications or power-control systems.
• Experience with Mentor Graphics tools such as PADS, DxDesigner or HyperLynx.
• Experience with Vivado, Quartus, Libero, ModelSim, QuestaSim or similar FPGA development and simulation tools.
• Familiarity with LTspice, MATLAB, Simulink, Mathcad or other modeling and analysis software.
• Requirements and configuration-management experience using DOORS, Synergy, Omnify or comparable tools.
• Experience with LabVIEW, C, C++, Python, Visual Basic or embedded microcode.
• Experience supporting new-product introduction and production transition.