FPGA Hardware Design Engineer

Purpose and Impact:

Our contract supports more than 12 efforts with varying levels of hardware and software development requirements. Our projects are focused on front end equipment configuration/maintenance, back‑end repositories, front end dashboards, as well as everything in between for the full data processing thread. Our teams can range from one to two developers to a team of twelve.

All of our teams work right alongside our customer to discuss requirements, identify solutions, and choose the way forward for implementation. As part of an engineering office, our customer and our workforce look and plan for future expectations—continuously trying to stay ahead of the next challenge.

This position is for a team of three contractors that work directly with our customer on custom solutions for technical challenges identified by our field sites.

This position is for a candidate that designs and tests new integrated circuits and hardware components for a wide variety of signal processing applications and research. Designs, documents, and develops code (to include firmware) for digital signal processors or other programmable hardware devices such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) hardware. Analyzes the function of existing integrated circuits and hardware components for the purpose of reverse engineering the hardware and firmware.

Conducts the necessary hardware engineering and related functions to modify and adapt vendor manufactured hardware to meet special government needs and contingencies.

Work Schedule: Monday‑Friday: Normal schedule. Specific start/end times can be determined by candidate and the team for best schedule needs.

Essential Responsibilities:

This position is for a candidate that designs and tests new integrated circuits and hardware components for a wide variety of signal processing applications and research. Designs, documents, and develops code (to include firmware) for digital signal processors or other programmable hardware devices such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) hardware. Analyzes the function of existing integrated circuits and hardware components for the purpose of reverse engineering the hardware and firmware.

Conducts the necessary hardware engineering and related functions to modify and adapt vendor manufactured hardware to meet special government needs and contingencies.

Capabilities:

• Assist with designing new products and processes and improving and maintaining existing products.
• Conduct design analysis on components and/or assemblies to assist in the development process by ensuring designs are cost efficient, able to be manufactured, and reliable.
• Communicate with the other engineering personnel to coordinate the interrelated design and assure project completion.
• Apply ASIC or FPGA place and route (P&R) tools with various libraries to create physical implementations of designs.
• Develop and maintain documentation for the P&R design flows.
• Assist with de‑processing electronic components and retrieving stored firmware or software using approved reverse engineering procedures.
• Design new products and processes and improve and maintain existing products.
• Integrate new P&R tools, P&R tool updates, and ASIC or FPGA design libraries into Government’s computer‑aided design environment, document the use of those tools and libraries, and assist other physical designers to successfully complete their specific P&R design tasks.
• Work with tool and library vendors to develop solutions for designers’ P&R design challenges.
• Perform the de‑processing of electronic components and retrieving stored firmware or software using approved reverse engineering procedures and develop improved procedures.
• Lead the designs of new products and processes and improve and maintain existing products.
• Provide technical leadership to less experienced engineers.
• Direct and check the work of other hardware design engineers.
• Act as internal consultant providing technical guidance on most complex projects.
• Oversee the de‑processing of electronic components and retrieving stored firmware or software using approved reverse engineering procedures.
• Develop novel procedures for reverse engineering of new component types.

Minimum Requirements (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities):

• 12 years of experience as a HDE in integrated circuit or microelectronic component design or reverse engineering of the same is required.
• 10 years: Programming in VHDL.
• 8 Years: Programming in Xilinx FPGAs—any combination of VIRTEX‑II Pro, VIRTEX‑4, VIRTEX‑5 or VIRTEX‑6.
• 5 Years: Programming on Linux platforms.
• 5 years: Experience with XILINX ISE, Synplify Pro, and Modeltechs Modelsim.
• 8 years at 50%: Experience writing pin‑level VHDL and clocking constraint files.
• 1 year: Programming in one or more of the following scripting languages: PERL, sh, bash, or python.
• 5 Years: Using Linux or Unix for day‑to‑day activities.

Clearance Required:

• TS/SCI with Poly.

Minimum Education:

• Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering or related technical discipline from an accredited college or university.

Minimum Years of Experience:

• Twelve (12) years of experience is required.
• Five additional years of experience are required if the candidate does not have a Bachelors degree in a technical field.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience writing Interface Control Documents (ICDs).
• Experience with Microsoft office Tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Three or more years of experience using one or more of the following revision control applications: git, Subversion (SVN), CVS, ClearCase or one or more years of experience generating and documenting design specifications of system‑level components in a UML‑based tool (e.g., Confluence/Gliffy).
• Two or more years of experience with test‑driven development.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.

Labor Laws Posters

Compensation Details:

$200,000 – $260,000

Benefits Overview:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Paid time off and holidays.
• Retirement benefits (including 401(k) matching).
• Educational reimbursement.
• Parental leave.
• Employee stock purchase plan.
• Tax‑saving options.
• Disability and life insurance.
• Pet insurance.