FPGA Digital Engineer - 2

Northrop Grumman; Chandler (AZ); On-site; USD 87,000 - 131,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Paid holidays

Paid time off

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Space Systems seeks an FPGA Digital Engineer to support the EO Group in Chandler, AZ. This early-career role emphasizes learning and contributing to the design, verification, and integration of FPGAs for advanced systems, collaborating with hardware, algorithms, and software teams.

You will assist senior engineers, develop test benches, document designs, and help manage FPGA bitstreams while adhering to internal standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering; 2+ years of related experience, or Master’s degree.
• Experience with FPGAs/SoCs, VHDL/Verilog; Vivado or similar tools.
• Familiarity with designing, verifying, and debugging digital hardware and interfaces.

Responsibilities

• Assist senior FPGA engineers and cross-disciplinary teams on design and integration tasks.
• Develop and execute test benches to verify FPGA designs against requirements.
• Support IO and image processing HDL modules, including HDL coding and simulation.

Skills

FPGAs experience

HDL development

Verilog/VHDL

Digital design

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Vivado IDE

Questa/ModelSim

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work - and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Northrop Grumman Space Systems is looking for an FPGA Digital Engineer to support the Electro-Optics (EO) Group within the Launch Vehicles business unit in Chandler, Arizona.

As a FPGA Design Engineer, you will collaborate with experienced FPGA engineers and cross-disciplinary teams (hardware, algorithms, software) to support the design, verification, and integration of FPGAs for advanced systems. This early-career role is focused on learning, developing foundational skills, and contributing to project deliverables under guidance.

Responsibilities

• Work under supervision to assist senior FPGA engineers and multidisciplinary teams in resolving design and integration challenges.
• Participate in the development and execution of test benches to verify FPGA designs for functional and timing requirements.
• Support generating, verifying & integrating IO and image processing HDL modules. including functions definitions, HDL coding, module level sim and integration with overall device architecture
• Prepare, organize, and maintain design documentation, including schematics, simulation results, and verification reports with oversight.
• Support configuration management of FPGA bitstream builds as directed.
• Contribute to ensuring compliance with internal design standards throughout the development lifecycle.
• Continue developing technical knowledge of evolving FPGA technologies, tools, and industry methodologies.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline from an accredited university and 2 years of relevant experience; or a Master’s degree.
• Ability to obtain a U.S. Government Department of Defense (DoD) Secret security clearance at the time of application.
• Internship, co-op, or academic project experience with FPGAs, SoCs, or digital hardware (VHDL preferred, or Verilog).
• Exposure to AMD Xilinx FPGAs and SoCs (academic or project experience acceptable).
• Familiarity with managing design constraints (timing, power, I/O) and using development tools such as Vivado IDE.
• Exposure to the development, verification, or debugging of digital interfaces/buses (such as Ethernet, PCIe, AXI4, UART, SDLC) via coursework or projects.
• Familiarity with simulation tools (Questa/ModelSim) or basic hardware debugging tools (logic analyzers, oscilloscopes).
• Experience developing or running verification plans using simulation, analysis, or hardware bench testing from coursework or internships.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline.
• Active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at the time of application.
• Direct experience with missile systems, seeker systems, or other high reliability, environmentally challenging electro optical applications (academic or internship).
• Familiarity with AMD Xilinx Versal FPGAs/SoCs.
• Exposure to Vitis Unified IDE and memory interface standards (DDR3/DDR4/DDR5).
• Coursework or project experience with embedded C/C++ programming.
• Understanding of OSVVM or UVM verification methodologies.
• Interested in high-speed PCB design and signal integrity.

Primary Level Salary Range: $87,200.00 - $130,800.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.