Senior Digital Hardware Designer

Acquisition NexGen; Scottsdale (AZ); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Acquisition NexGen in Scottsdale, AZ seeks a Senior Digital Hardware Designer to support research, design, and testing of advanced electronic hardware for defense and national security missions. The role emphasizes schematic capture, complex PCB design, signal integrity, FPGAs, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and SoC technologies.

The successful candidate will lead and mentor others, work in a fast-paced environment, and contribute to innovations and continuous improvement in the program.

Qualifications

• Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related STEM field.
• Minimum of 8 years of job-related experience; Master’s +6 years acceptable.
• U.S. citizenship required; DoD Secret clearance preferred.

Responsibilities

• Research, design, develop, integrate, and test advanced electronic equipment and systems.
• Develop digital hardware solutions for radar, communications, computing, circuitry, and DSP apps.
• Perform schematic capture and support complex electronic hardware designs.
• Design multi-layer PCBs with controlled-impedance layers and blind micro-vias.
• Analyze and test designs for signal integrity and crosstalk.
• Lead and mentor less-experienced engineers and designers.

Skills

Schematic capture

PCB design

Signal integrity

FPGA

Microprocessors

Microcontrollers

SoC

Technical leadership

Independent technical judgment

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Job description

Security Clearance: TS/SCI, DoD Secret Clearance Preferred

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Digital Hardware Designer to support the research, design, development, integration, and testing of advanced electronic hardware and systems supporting critical defense and national security missions.

This position is ideal for an experienced digital hardware engineer who brings strong expertise in schematic capture, complex printed circuit board (PCB) design, signal integrity, digital processing hardware, FPGAs, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and System-on-Chip (SoC) technologies.

The Senior Digital Hardware Designer will contribute to the development of sophisticated electronic systems, including radar detection and communications equipment, circuitry and electronic components, computing platforms, and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) equipment.

The successful candidate will also provide technical leadership and mentoring to less-experienced engineers while helping identify opportunities for continuous improvement and innovation.

Basic Qualifications

Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related Science, Engineering, Technology, or Mathematics (STEM) field, plus a minimum of 8 years of job-related experience.

Alternatively, candidates may possess a Master’s degree plus 6 years of job-related experience.

Security Clearance Requirements

A Department of Defense Secret security clearance is preferred at the time of hire.

Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Due to the nature of the work performed within the facility, U.S. citizenship is required.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Digital Hardware Designer will:

• Research, design, develop, integrate, and test advanced electronic equipment and systems.
• Develop digital hardware solutions supporting radar detection, communications, computing, circuitry, and Digital Signal Processing applications.
• Perform schematic capture and support the development of complex electronic hardware designs.
• Design multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs) incorporating controlled-impedance layers and blind micro-vias.
• Analyze and test designs for signal integrity, crosstalk, and other electrical performance considerations.
• Work with multiple families of microprocessors, microcontrollers, FPGAs, and System-on-Chip (SoC) devices.
• Exercise creative thinking and technical ideation to improve engineering solutions and overall program performance.
• Deliver innovative, flexible, and integrated solutions that address evolving customer requirements.
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, and mentoring to less-senior engineers and designers.
• Demonstrate initiative on assignments and exercise strong independent technical judgment.
• Remain current with industry and engineering trends, technologies, and best practices.
• Support program and project activities while complying with applicable engineering processes, policies, and procedures.
• Identify opportunities to apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support continuous improvement and engineering innovation.

Required Experience

Successful candidates should demonstrate:

• Experience with schematic capture.
• Experience designing PCBs utilizing controlled-impedance layers and blind micro-vias.
• Experience analyzing and testing hardware for signal integrity, crosstalk, and related electrical performance characteristics.
• Familiarity with multiple families of microprocessors and microcontrollers.
• Experience working with FPGAs.
• Familiarity with System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures and technologies.
• Strong independent judgment and demonstrated initiative when completing complex technical assignments.
• Ability to technically lead and mentor less-experienced engineers.

Preferred Experience

Additional consideration will be given to candidates with:

• High-Reliability or Space systems design experience.
• Experience conducting Worst Case Analysis (WCA).
• Experience performing Stress Analysis.

Workplace Options

This position supports fully on-site or Hybrid/Flexible work arrangements, as desired, based out of the Scottsdale, Arizona location.

Candidates should be prepared to work in an engineering environment supporting advanced technologies and mission-critical defense and national security systems.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a senior-level digital hardware engineer who combines hands-on PCB and electronic hardware design expertise with the ability to independently solve complex engineering problems and provide technical leadership.

Candidates with a strong combination of digital hardware design, PCB design, schematic capture, signal integrity, FPGA/SoC technologies, controlled-impedance design, high-reliability electronics, and defense or space systems experience will be particularly well aligned with this opportunity.