Senior Hardware Architect - Secure Defense Electronics

Palomar Products, Inc.; Rancho Santa Margarita (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Palomar Products is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to join the Hardware Development team in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. You will shepherd electronic boards from requirements to production for our Secure Communication System, collaborating with firmware and software teams and leveraging COTS evaluations.

The ideal candidate has extensive defense/aerospace hardware experience, strong FPGA/MCU skills, and a proven record of mentoring engineers while delivering reliable, production-ready

Qualifications

• Experience: hardware development from requirements through production.
• Design verification, testing, and qualification of hardware.
• Ability to mentor junior engineers and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Drive hardware architecture and define firmware/software interfaces.
• Design circuits and select components per requirements.
• Oversee board layout and inspect final design before production.
• Prove designs with development boards and evaluation hardware.
• Test boards, debug issues, and perform failure analysis.
• Build prototypes and support transition to production.
• Document test results and BOM/cost estimates.
• Participate in design reviews and mentor peers.

Skills

FPGA design

ARM processors

Hardware debugging

Leadership mentoring

Schematic design

Lab testing

Education

B.Sc. Electrical/Computer Engineering

Tools

Xilinx FPGAs

MicroSemi FPGAs

Oscilloscopes

I2C

SPI

PCIe

Ethernet

Job description

Palomar Products is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to join the Hardware Development team in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. You will shepherd electronic boards from requirements to production for our Secure Communication System, collaborating with firmware and software teams and leveraging COTS evaluations.

The ideal candidate has extensive defense/aerospace hardware experience, strong FPGA/MCU skills, and a proven record of mentoring engineers while delivering reliable, production-ready