National AI Awards 2025Discover AI's trailblazers! Join us to celebrate innovation and nominate industry leaders.

Nominate & Attend

Lead FPGA Engineer

Granton
1 month ago
Applications closed

Related Jobs

View all jobs

FPGA Engineer

Electronics Engineer

Design Engineer

Embedded Software Engineer

Software & Firmware Engineer

Snr Hardware Design Engineer

Our Client, a global leader in the defence industry has an exciting opportunity for a Lead FPGA design Engineer / Manager.

Role Overview:

The Lead FPGA Engineer would be responsible the success of the engineering activities within an Integrated FPGA Product Team or one of the products within an FPGA Product Line.

Job Responsibilities:

The Lead FPGA Engineer is responsible for defining and leading the Work Packages for the team members on a day-to-day basis. Assignment of the work packages would happen in consultation with the Project Engineering Manager. You would be responsible for providing your team with clear expectations of the engineering outcomes, ensuring that they operate consistently within the Policies & Procedures and to foster the improvement goals defined by the Engineering Function.

Specific responsibilities:

Lead the Engineering aspects of the FPGA Project or Product Line 
Manage an FPGA Engineering Team to deliver the project outcomes
Ensure that the outcomes for success are clearly defined and well communicated
Ensure that the FPGA Engineering activities are well planned, costed and scheduled with the Project Planning and Project Management Community.
Ensure that the FPGA Engineering team has a well-documented Engineering Plan and that the plan is followed
Report on progress of the Engineering plan as needed
Ensure the FPGA Engineering team follows an effectively tailored Life Cycle Management Process, leading the Design Reviews.
Oversee the completion of the project outcomes to quality, cost and schedule ensuring that the project performance is accurately reported throughout
Maintain an effective dialogue with the Project Engineering Manager and PM, reporting status and risks to the project throughout
Work closely with the FPGA & Systems Design Authorities ensuring they are fully informed on technical progress and technical risks, requesting support as required
Support the Project Engineering Manager for engineering reviews and team briefs
Support the team with day-to-day technical queries and hands-on troubleshooting 

Skills, Qualifications and Experience required:

Mandatory

Proven experience in FPGA engineering management and delivery of projects
Engineering or scientific Degree qualification (or equivalent)
Excellent communicator and able to provide clear direction to FPGA teams
Ability to manage complex situations with sound judgement and the ability to balance conflicting challenges
Commercial and business awareness
Experience of working across the full life cycle
Familiarity with latest FPGA device families and verification methodologies
Proven expertise of developing FPGA using VHDL or Verilog
Experienced with Mentor Graphics FPGA development tools including HDL Designer, ModelSim / Questa and Precision
Familiar with Xilinx / Intel (Altera) / Microsemi (Actel) design flows (ISE, Vivado, Quartus) and third-party synthesis tools
Experience in specifying timing and area constraints for efficient FPGA Place and Route.
Ability to analyse system and / or hardware level requirements and derive detailed FPGA requirements
Independent verification using VHDL
Experience of FPGA requirements capture and requirements management tools
De-bugging FPGA designs and supporting integration & verification at hardware and system level
A good understanding of FPGA version control and revision control software
Experience of making technical decisions and mitigating technical risk for FPGA design activities.
Experience with High-Speed Serial protocols and implementations
Ability to coordinate day to day technical activities
Excellent communication (oral & written) & interpersonal skills
Linux and scripting experience
Practical experience with agile methodology
Experience in writing technical reports/documentation 

Desirable

Development of real-time, embedded, safety-critical FPGA, preferably in accordance with RTCA/DO-254 DAL A/B or below
Electronic Warfare or RF Systems Experience
Defence domain experience or relevant experience in the Aerospace industry
Development and certification of airborne equipment
New Product Introduction experience
Independent verification using SystemVerilog / UVM
Experience of embedded processor cores (e.g. ARM) in FPGA designs 

Qualifications

Honours degree or equivalent in Electronics Engineering or another STEM-based subject 

Current valid SC clearance would be an advantage

Due to the security requirements this role is open to SOLE UK NATIONALS ONLY

National AI Awards 2025

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Space Sector Jobs Skills Radar 2026: Emerging Tools, Technologies & Platforms to Learn Now

From launch vehicles and CubeSats to space-based communications, climate monitoring, and lunar exploration—UK space jobs are entering a bold new era. With government investment, private capital, and ESA partnerships driving growth, demand is surging for professionals with the right skills to build and sustain this expanding space economy. Welcome to the Space Sector Jobs Skills Radar 2026—your annual guide to the engineering tools, simulation platforms, programming languages and mission technologies that UK employers are prioritising. Whether you're an aerospace graduate, software engineer, or systems integrator, this radar helps you target the future of UK space careers.

How to Find Hidden Space Jobs in the UK Using Professional Bodies like the RAeS, UKSpace & More

The UK space sector is enjoying rapid growth—driven by satellite constellations, launch services, Earth observation, space science, and defence applications. But while demand for engineers, scientists, mission designers, and space analysts is high, many of the most compelling roles are never advertised publicly. Instead, these opportunities are often filled through professional networks, working groups, innovation clusters, and academic-industry partnerships. This guide will show you how to access hidden UK space jobs by engaging with bodies like the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), UKSpace, British Interplanetary Society (BIS), and regional space clusters. By leveraging membership directories, special-interest groups (SIGs), CPD events, and funded projects, you can position yourself to be first in line—even before roles are posted.

How to Get a Better Space Sector Job After a Lay-Off or Redundancy

Being made redundant from a role in the UK space sector can be disheartening. Whether your work was tied to satellite design, launch services, ground systems, mission operations, or Earth observation analytics, the experience and specialist knowledge you've gained is still highly valuable. The UK government’s Space Strategy, increased commercial investment, and new launch initiatives across Cornwall, Scotland, and Wales continue to drive opportunities in upstream and downstream space technologies. This guide will help you relaunch your career in the UK space sector after redundancy.