HDL Tech Lead - FPGA/RF Systems Architect

First Rf; Boulder (CO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO 4 weeks

Hybrid work

Tuition reimbursement

401(k) match 6%

Healthcare

Job summary

FIRST RF Corporation in Boulder, CO seeks an HDL Technical Team Lead to guide FPGA/HDL development across multiple RF programs. The role blends hands‑on coding (~50%) with strategic direction, architecture guidance, and cross‑team collaboration to ensure reuse and quality across designs.

The ideal candidate has 3+ years FPGA/HDL experience, strong digital design and timing expertise, and familiarity with RF concepts. U.S. citizenship and an ability to obtain a security clearance are required.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship and ability to obtain a U.S. Security Clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 3+ years of FPGA/HDL development experience (Verilog, VHDL, or similar).
• Experience leading or owning technical direction for HDL designs or projects.
• Strong understanding of digital system design, timing constraints and interfaces.
• Experience with high-speed and control interfaces (PCIe, SPI, I2C, AXI, Aurora, JESD, etc.).
• Familiarity with RF system concepts and how digital logic interfaces with analog hardware.
• Ability to think across systems and programs, not just individual blocks.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead for HDL development across multiple concurrent programs
• Guide system-level HDL architecture and ensure designs align with program requirements and long-term platform strategy
• Identify opportunities to reuse architecture, IP, and tooling across projects to improve efficiency and consistency
• Lead technical planning, design reviews, and cross‑team alignment — ensuring teams move quickly without sacrificing quality
• Spend ~50% of your time on specialty tooling, targeted HDL development, and complex problem‑solving
• Collaborate closely with RF, embedded software, and hardware teams to ensure seamless system integration
• Support and mentor HDL engineers through technical guidance, design feedback, and best‑practice development — without direct people management
• Own and influence design documentation, simulation strategy, verification approach, and integration readiness
• Evaluate architectural trade‑offs, interfaces, and timing constraints across systems and programs
• Support hardware bring‑up and integration efforts in Linux‑based environments

Skills

HDL development

FPGA design

Technical leadership

System architecture

Verilog/VHDL

Cross-team collaboration

RF knowledge

Education

Bachelor's in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Vivado

ModelSim

Spade/Veryl

Scripting/automation tools

Job description

FIRST RF Corporation in Boulder, CO seeks an HDL Technical Team Lead to guide FPGA/HDL development across multiple RF programs. The role blends hands‑on coding (~50%) with strategic direction, architecture guidance, and cross‑team collaboration to ensure reuse and quality across designs.

The ideal candidate has 3+ years FPGA/HDL experience, strong digital design and timing expertise, and familiarity with RF concepts. U.S. citizenship and an ability to obtain a security clearance are required.