FPGA Design Engineer

Leidos LLC; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 126,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellness programs

Income protection

Paid leave

Retirement benefits

Job summary

Leidos Defense Systems is seeking an Embedded Firmware Developer in Huntsville, AL. You will lead architecture and implementation of embedded firmware across FPGA, microcontroller, and mixed-signal platforms for aerospace and defense systems.

The role covers the full product lifecycle from concept through manufacturing, testing, and post-delivery support. Strong HDL/C/C++ skills and experience with RTOS and high-speed interfaces are required.

Qualifications

• ABET-accredited engineering degree required.
• 4+ years embedded system design and test; 2+ years with MS.
• Experience with FPGA, HDL (VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog).
• Familiar with UART, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, CAN.
• US citizen and eligible for Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture decisions for embedded firmware across FPGA, microcontrollers, and SoCs.
• Oversee product life cycle from concept to post-delivery support.
• Troubleshoot board-level issues and root-cause failures.

Skills

Embedded systems

FPGA design

C/C++

RTOS

Collaboration

Laboratory skills

Education

ABET-accredited degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Tools

Xilinx FPGA Tools

VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog

JESD204B

PCIe

Oscilloscope

Job description

Looking for an opportunity to make an impact? At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainable. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business. Your greatest work is ahead! Leidos’ Defense Systems Electrical Systems department is seeking a talented Embedded Firmware Developer to join our team. The Electrical Systems Department is a design-focused group of engineers specializing in advanced hardware-based products. The individual selected for this position will be an embedded design engineer with varied technical interests and demonstrated engineering and leadership skills. The individual must be a self- starter with experience working with inter-disciplinary teams to solve challenging technical problems. The engineer will lead efforts on and develop architectures for embedded systems integrated into a diverse range of aerospace and military systems including manned/unmanned ground/air vehicles, missiles, defensive radars, and space systems. The selected candidate will be a key technical leader in a fast-paced, environment through all phases of the product life cycle from concept development and detailed design through manufacturing, qualification testing, and post-delivery support. The candidate will be responsible for architecting, implementing, and testing embedded firmware and software on a variety of platforms, including FPGAs, microcontrollers, microprocessors, and mixed signal designs. Additional skills such as communications data-link design, digital-signal processing (DSP) design, system design, experience with technical trade studies, and evaluation of technology improvements are a plus. With a product focus, the individual is also expected to actively partner with other engineers, project managers, technicians, and the customer to develop solutions that adhere to a diverse set of requirements. This includes architecture decisions from requirements that help inform and drive hardware implementations and working closely with hardware engineers. Additionally, the engineer will support resolution of technical issues that are discovered during the manufacture and test of deliverable products. This will include troubleshooting board-level issues, assessing failures for root cause, and identifying corrective actions. The ideal candidate will thrive in a learning environment that encourages leadership and technical growth. If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, keep reading! Leidos Defense Systems Sector provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world’s toughest security challenges for customers with “can’t fail” missions.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Primary Responsibilities

• Key technical leader in a fast-paced, environment.
• Responsible for all phases of the product life cycle from concept development and detailed design through manufacturing, qualification testing, and post-delivery support.
• Responsible for architecting, implementing, and testing embedded firmware and software on a variety of platforms, including FPGAs, microcontrollers, microprocessors, and mixed signal designs.
• Additional skills such as communications data-link design, digital-signal processing (DSP) design, system design, experience with technical trade studies, and evaluation of technology improvements are a plus.
• Support resolution of technical issues that are discovered during the manufacture and test of deliverable products.
• Troubleshooting board-level issues, assessing failures for root cause, and identifying corrective actions.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or equivalent degree from an ABET-accredited institution.
• Candidate must have at least 4+ years of experience in embedded system design and test or 2+ years with MS degree.
• Understand trade-offs of embedded system targets (such as FPGA, SoC, microcontroller, RTOS, bare-metal) for developing best cost/option architectures
• Proven experience with FPGA design and hardware description languages such as VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog
• Experience with common communication protocols such as: UART, Ethernet, SPI, I2C,CAN bus, etc.
• Hands-on laboratory experience with instrumentation, test equipment, and debug/test methods
• Position requires candidates to be capable of performing in a collaborative engineering environment working closely with multi-disciplinary teams
• Candidate must be a resident of the North Alabama area or willing to relocate to the Huntsville - North Alabama, AL area
• Candidate must be a US Citizen and possess (and be able to maintain) a Final Secret Clearance or meet the eligibility to obtain (and maintain) a Secret Clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Developing overall firmware/software architecture for embedded systems
• Experience with embedded software/firmware programming in languages such as C, C++, or assembly languages
• Embedded operating systems (Linux, VxWorks, Integrity, FreeRTOS, uC/OS-II) GNU/Linux and development of kernel drivers
• Utilizing modern Xilinx FPGA and SoC families and design tools(Xilinx IP Cores, AXI4, AXI-Stream)
• Software or FPGA test and verification experience (unit testing, FPGA simulation testbenching, HWIL)
• RISC microprocessors architectures (ARM Cortex, Microblaze, PowerPC, RISC-V)
• Memory architectures, types,and caching
• Experience with high speed interfaces (PCIe, Aurora, 100GbE, JESD204B)
• Electronics and PCBA design

Pay and Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available here.

Securing Your Data

Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information at any part of the employment application process. And Leidos will communicate with you only through emails that are sent from a Leidos.com email address. If you receive an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information, please report the email to [e-mail].

Commitment and Diversity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.

Pay Range: Pay Range $69,550.00 - $125,725.00 The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary.