Senior FPGA Engineer

General Atomics

Herndon (VA)

On-site

USD 119,000 - 208,000

Full time

11 hours ago

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Benefits offered by this job

9x80 work schedule

Job summary

General Atomics is seeking a Senior FPGA Engineer within the Mission Systems team in Herndon, VA. The role focuses on FPGA/ digital hardware development for spacecraft payloads and ground electronics, with responsibilities spanning architecture, RTL design, verification, and deployment.

The position requires extensive experience in FPGA development, embedded systems, and C programming, plus the ability to lead technical reviews, mentor engineers, and coordinate with government customers.

Qualifications

Requires a bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD in engineering or related field with progressive experience (12+ years with bachelor, 10+ with master, 7+ with PhD).
Extensive FPGA, digital hardware, and embedded systems expertise; ability to define architectures and lead from requirements through deployment.
Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal skills for interfacing with teams, customers, and government representatives.

Responsibilities

Lead FPGA hardware/firmware development, architecture, RTL design, simulation, and timing analysis.
Define technical approaches and provide direction for complex engineering problems.
Coordinate testing, verification, and integration across spacecraft hardware and ground electronics.
Develop long-term technical plans and ensure compliance with safety standards.
Mentor engineers and lead multidisciplinary project teams.

Skills

FPGA development

Digital hardware

Embedded systems

Architectures & RTL design

Leadership & project management

Technical communication

C programming

Linux knowledge

Schematic capture

Customer-focused

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

FPGA toolchains

Schematic capture tools

Lab equipment (oscilloscopes, analyzers)

Job description

Job Summary

General Atomics (GA), and its affiliated companies, is one of the world’s leading resources for high-technology systems development ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely piloted aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior FPGA Engineer within the Mission Systems team which is part of our Electromagnetic Systems group. The position would be located in Herndon, VA.

The CSS Innovations team provides innovative, cutting-edge, security solutions for the United States Government. Our employees provide a multi-disciplinary, sometimes non-traditional, approach to generate innovative solutions to incredibly challenging technical problems in the national security arena. Our areas of expertise are in spacecraft payload and system development (especially in the confines of implementing very large amounts of functionality in extremely small, power-constrained environments); unique system development; ground control and operational software development; embedded software development; and unique cyber capabilities. Key customers include the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.

Job Summary

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior FPGA Engineer within the Mission Systems team which is part of our Electromagnetic Systems group. The position would be located in Herndon, VA.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Serves as a senior technical contributor and integral participant in derived-requirements definition, avionics hardware development and implementation, and system integration, test, and verification for spacecraft and associated flight-payload and ground electronics.
Leads and contributes to digital and FPGA hardware/firmware development, including architecture definition, FPGA design, schematic development, board functional testing, firmware development, and associated test-software development.
Defines and evaluates technical approaches for complex engineering problems and establishes effective solutions that satisfy mission, performance, cost, schedule, reliability, and compliance requirements.
Develops and maintains long-term technical plans for solution development, documentation, deployment, verification, sustainment, and compliance with applicable reporting and safety standards.
Leads the evaluation and integration of engineering solutions within the overall system and program environment, ensuring that appropriate documentation, testing, maintenance, configuration management, and engineering updates are completed.
Establishes technical objectives, develops architectures, and provides technical direction for solutions addressing advanced engineering problems.
Plans, coordinates, and oversees the development and implementation of engineering solutions, including resource requirements, testing, documentation, integration, deployment, compliance, and safety.
Serves as a prime technical contact for assigned projects and programs. Communicates effectively with engineering professionals, solution users, customers, management, and government representatives throughout the development lifecycle.
Represents the Company in technical discussions with senior external personnel and coordinates technical matters across organizational boundaries.
Provides technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to less experienced engineers and may lead multidisciplinary project teams.
Leads or supports technical reviews, design reviews, risk assessments, root-cause investigations, and resolution of complex hardware and firmware issues.
Plans and coordinates the maintenance and evolution of engineering solutions, including documentation, reporting, publishing, technical presentations, and updates required to ensure continued viability in an evolving environment.
Evaluates emerging engineering technologies and plans for future applications that may improve product performance, reliability, manufacturability, testability, or mission capability.
Leads or supports the development of new business opportunities and the expansion of existing business, including technical proposals, statements of work, customer briefings, and technology discussions.
Maintains the strict confidentiality of sensitive information.
Responsible for observing all laws, regulations, and other applicable obligations wherever and whenever business is conducted on behalf of the Company.
Expected to work in a safe manner in accordance with established operating procedures and practices.
Performs other duties as assigned or required. We operate on a 9x80 schedule, with every other Friday off.

We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.

Job Qualifications

Typically requires a bachelors degree, masters degree or PhD in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and progressive engineering experience as follows; twelve or more years of experience with a bachelors degree, ten or more years of experience with a masters degree, or seven or more years with a PhD. May substitute equivalent engineering experience in lieu of education.
Demonstrates extensive and advanced technical expertise in FPGA, digital hardware, embedded systems, and engineering principles, concepts, theory, and practice.
Demonstrates the ability to define architectures, develop technical approaches, resolve complex problems, and lead engineering efforts from requirements development through design, implementation, integration, test, verification, and deployment.
Demonstrates strong organizational and project leadership skills, including the ability to establish priorities, develop schedules, coordinate workloads, manage technical risks, and deliver results in accordance with established deadlines and milestones.
Must be able to quickly understand new concepts and apply them accurately in an evolving technical environment.
Must possess strong written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to effectively interface with engineering teams, other departments, customers, government representatives, and senior external personnel.
Must be capable of representing the organization as a prime technical contact and providing technical leadership and guidance to less experienced professionals.
Experience leading FPGA development activities, including requirements definition, architecture, RTL design, simulation, synthesis, timing analysis, verification, integration, and laboratory debugging, is required.
Experience with Actel/Microchip FPGA toolchains is a plus.
Must be comfortable designing, implementing, and debugging custom and standard serial communication protocols in FPGA fabric logic using VHDL.
Experience developing with soft-core processors and integrating FPGAs with custom protocols and standard serial interfaces is highly desired.
Experience interfacing with focal plane arrays is a plus.
Spacecraft hardware development experience is a plus.
Must be comfortable designing, developing, and debugging small-scale circuitry that performs sensing, digital data manipulation, and electromechanical control.
Proficiency working with schematics and conducting laboratory testing of electronics hardware and embedded systems is required, including use of oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and other laboratory debugging tools.
Proficiency in the C programming language is desirable.
Experience with software development, scripting, and the Linux operating system environment is desirable.
Experience developing hardware and firmware for high-reliability, mission-critical, or space-qualified systems is desirable.
Experience with configuration management, formal verification processes, design documentation, and hardware/software integration is desirable.
Must be customer-focused and able to work independently, take initiative, and contribute effectively in a team environment.
Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance is required.
Must be willing to work extended hours to meet deadlines and support project success.
Must be willing to travel as required.