Principal Firmware/FPGA Engineer (Onsite)

RTX Corporate; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 108,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance available

Job summary

RTX BBN Technologies in Cambridge, MA is seeking qualified engineers to design, analyze, and prototype real‑time embedded systems, focusing on HDL/RTL for DCLT applications. You will contribute to multi‑domain architectures, solve real‑world problems, and support hardware testbeds in quantum information and photonics domains.

Requires a DoD Secret clearance, strong FPGA skills, real‑time systems experience, and scripting ability; relocation assistance available for onsite roles at our Cambridge

Qualifications

• Typically requires a STEM degree with 8+ years prior experience or an Advanced Degree with 5+ years of experience
• Professional experience in FPGA development processes: RTL design, verification, timing analysis, board bring up, and validation
• Understanding of Digital Signal Processing fundamentals and their implementation on FPGAs
• Professional experience in high‑speed interfaces, including Ethernet, serial point to point communication (sFPDP, SPI), and high‑speed memory interfaces (HBM2, DDR)
• Scripting development experience (bash, Tcl, etc.)
• The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance is required

Responsibilities

• Developing real‑time control system architectures to affect the performance of physical systems
• Developing sophisticated detection, classification, localization, and tracking (DCLT) algorithms against state‑of‑the‑art threats in high‑noise environments
• Support development and testing of experimental testbeds for real‑time sensor processing systems, quantum information systems, integrated photonic systems, and other physical sciences pursuits
• Supporting implementation and evaluation of real time systems in realistic mission scenarios and conducting operational analysis

Skills

FPGA development

RTL design

Timing analysis

Board bring up

DSP fundamentals

High-speed interfaces

Ethernet

sFPDP

SPI

HBM2 DDR

Scripting bash

Tcl

Security clearance

Education

STEM degree

Advanced degree in related field

Tools

Petalinux

BlueSpec System Verilog

Job description

Date Posted:

2026-05-14

Country:

United States of America

Location:

US-MA-CAMBRIDGE-BBN01 ~ 10 & 50 Moulton St ~ MOULTON B2

Position Role Type:

Onsite

U.S. Citizen, U.S. Person, or Immigration Status Requirements:

The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance is required. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance

Security Clearance Type:

DoD Clearance: Secret

Security Clearance Status:

Active and existing security clearance required after day 1

RTX Corporation is an Aerospace and Defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. It comprises three industry-leading businesses – Collins Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. Its 185,000 employees enable the company to operate at the edge of known science as they imagine and deliver solutions that push the boundaries in quantum physics, electric propulsion, directed energy, hypersonics, avionics and cybersecurity. The company, formed in 2020 through the combination of Raytheon Company and the United Technologies Corporation aerospace businesses, is headquartered in Arlington, VA.

At RTX BBN Technologies, we invent new science by applying radical cross-disciplinary techniques to prototype systems in order to prove concept viability. This is especially evident in our Physical Systems and Sciences group, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where scientists and engineers anticipate the future in both very large and very small-scale scientific systems that often need to survive challenging operational environments.

What You Will Do:

We are seeking qualified candidates who have good knowledge in digital systems, HDL, signal processing, and hands‑on experience with development of real‑time embedded systems. Your knowledge of high‑speed interfaces and experience developing in multiple programming domains, including RTL, VHDL, Verilog, and scripting languages will be leveraged to create custom R&D hardware. You will join a project team designing, analyzing, and prototyping innovative multi‑domain system architectures, solving challenging real‑world problems like:

• Developing real‑time control system architectures to affect the performance of physical systems
• Developing sophisticated detection, classification, localization, and tracking (DCLT) algorithms against state‑of‑the‑art threats in high‑noise environments
• Support development and testing of experimental testbeds for real‑time sensor processing systems, quantum information systems, integrated photonic systems, and other physical sciences pursuits
• Supporting implementation and evaluation of real time systems in realistic mission scenarios and conducting operational analysis

Qualifications You Must Have:

• Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and minimum 8 years prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5 years of experience
• Professional experience in FPGA development processes: RTL design, verification, timing analysis, board bring up, and validation
• Understanding of Digital Signal Processing fundamentals and their implementation on FPGAs
• Professional experience in high‑speed interfaces, including experience in Ethernet, serial point to point communication (sFPDP, SPI), and high‑speed memory interfaces (HBM2, DDR)
• Scripting development experience (bash, Tcl, etc.)
• The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance is required

Qualifications We Prefer:

• Experience with SoC boards running bare metal code as well as configuring and deploying embedded Linux (e.g. Petalinux)
• Experience with RFSoC boards and/or high‑speed analog signal generation and digitization
• Familiarity with building Linux drivers for FPGA peripherals
• Experience with high level synthesis tools, including BlueSpec System Verilog
• Software development experience in C/C++, and Python

What We Offer:

Whether you’re just starting out on your career journey or are an experienced professional, we offer a robust total rewards package with compensation; healthcare, wellness, retirement, and work/life benefits; career development and recognition programs. Some of the benefits we offer include parental (including paternal) leave, flexible work schedules, achievement awards, educational assistance and child/adult backup care.

Relocation Assistance available

This position is Onsite at our Cambridge, Mass headquarters

To help you achieve your goals, BBN will provide:

• A strong leadership team well‑versed in government R&D.
• A collaborative and collegial environment to push state‑of‑the‑art research.
• Technically competent pool of research scientists who are willing to mentor, listen, and help you refine your research vision and goals.
• Business development, programmatic, contracting, finance, and HR support.
• Access, through RTX, to opportunities that help transition your research and ultimately see it fielded.

As part of our commitment to maintaining a secure hiring process, candidates may be asked to attendselect steps of the interview process in‑person at one of our office locations, regardless of whether the role is designated as on‑site, hybrid or remote.

The salary range for this role is 107,500 USD - 204,500 USD. The salary range provided is a good faith estimate representative of all experience levels. RTX considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.Hired applicants may be eligible for benefits, including but not limited to, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short‑term disability, long‑term disability, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, flexible work schedules, employee assistance program, Employee Scholar Program, parental leave, paid time off, and holidays. Specific benefits are dependent upon the specific business unit as well as whether or not the position is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement.Hired applicants may be eligible for annual short‑term and/or long‑term incentive compensation programs depending on the level of the position and whether or not it is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and are dependent upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company’s performance.This role is a U.S.-based role. If the successful candidate resides in a U.S. territory, the appropriate pay structure and benefits will apply.RTX anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted. However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require RTX to shorten or extend the application window.

RTX is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any other applicable state or federal protected class. RTX provides affirmative action in employment for qualified Individuals with a Disability and Protected Veterans in compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.

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