Senior FPGA Architect — Mission-Critical Defense Systems

Cubic Corporation; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 202,000 - 224,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Disability insurance

401k with company match

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Cubic Defense, a Cubic Defense Company, seeks a Senior Principal FPGA Engineer to lead complex FPGA/RTL/DSP initiatives for mission-critical systems. The role demands deep technical leadership, program oversight, and collaboration with cross-functional teams across the enterprise.

The position emphasizes security-focused firmware, DoD/NSA compliance, and advancing high-assurance solutions for defense applications, with on-site work in San Diego and potential travel.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of RTL/Firmware engineering experience or 8+ years with a Master’s/5+ years with a PhD.
• Led FPGA/RTL/DSP development projects and mentored teams.
• Strong RTL design/architecture knowledge, HDL coding and FPGA testing.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; proven leadership across programs.

Responsibilities

• Drive firmware/RTL development and architecture reviews.
• Provide technical vision and mentorship across programs.
• Lead FPGA design reviews and risk mitigation strategies.
• Define test strategies and automate performance testing.
• Collaborate with product management, QA, and operations to deliver high-quality products.

Skills

Leadership

Mentorship

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Problem solving

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in RTL/Firmware engineering

Master’s degree

PhD

Tools

Xilinx PS embedded processors

RFSOC

C/C++/Python

NSA certification process

Bug tracking

Job description

Cubic Defense, a Cubic Defense Company, seeks a Senior Principal FPGA Engineer to lead complex FPGA/RTL/DSP initiatives for mission-critical systems. The role demands deep technical leadership, program oversight, and collaboration with cross-functional teams across the enterprise.

The position emphasizes security-focused firmware, DoD/NSA compliance, and advancing high-assurance solutions for defense applications, with on-site work in San Diego and potential travel.