Senior -Speed Digital Hardware Engineer Cedar Rapids, IA

Cedar Rapids, IA

Unlock the power of Safety and Mission Critical Engineering with QDSS. We are seeking exceptional individuals to join our elite team- where your expertise will make an impact that matters. Elevate your career in a company dedicated to excellence and the pursuit of safety and mission success.

Quest Defense Systems & Solutions is seeking a Senior High-Speed Digital Hardware Engineer to design complex circuit cards for advanced aerospace and defense systems. You’ll work with high-speed serial interfaces, multi-lane architectures, Ethernet, fiber and copper interfaces, multiple FPGAs and SoCs, and advanced DDR5/DDR6 memory.

As an early senior member of the team, you’ll help establish the technical direction and drive designs from architecture and schematic capture through PCB layout, integration, and first-pass hardware success. This is an excellent opportunity for a hands-on engineer who enjoys solving challenging signal-integrity problems and taking meaningful ownership of critical hardware designs.

This position is based in Cedar Rapids, IA. Relocation assistance is available.

U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain a Secret clearance are required. Active Secret clearance is preferred.

• Architect and design complex high-speed digital circuit cards for aerospace and defense applications.
• Develop schematics, select components, and define board-level interfaces and design requirements.
• Design high-speed serial interfaces with multiple data lanes, including Ethernet, fiber, and copper connectivity.
• Integrate multiple FPGAs, complex SoCs, and DDR5/DDR6 or comparable high-performance memory.
• Analyze and resolve signal-integrity, timing, crosstalk, and electrical-interference challenges.
• Partner closely with ECAD and PCB layout engineers to define stackups, routing constraints, placement, and layout requirements.
• Lead technical reviews, design trade studies, risk assessments, and hardware troubleshooting activities.
• Support board bring-up, integration, testing, debugging, and validation in the lab.
• Collaborate with FPGA, software, systems, mechanical, and test engineers to deliver cohesive system solutions.
• Create and maintain schematics, design documentation, bills of materials, analysis results, and test procedures.
• Drive first-pass hardware success while meeting demanding technical and program schedules.

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience designing complex digital hardware or circuit-card assemblies.
• Hands‑on experience with high‑speed digital board design, from schematic capture through hardware bring‑up and validation.
• Experience designing high‑speed serial interfaces with multiple lanes per card.
• Experience integrating multiple FPGAs, complex SoCs, and high‑performance memory such as DDR5 or DDR
  6.
• Strong understanding of signal integrity, timing, crosstalk, electrical interference, and board‑level design constraints.
• Experience collaborating closely with ECAD and PCB layout engineers.
• Ability to lead technical decisions, resolve complex hardware issues, and deliver under demanding schedules.
• Ability to work onsite in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

• Active Secret security clearance.
• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• Previous experience developing hardware for aerospace or defense applications.
• Experience with schematic and PCB design tools such as Cadence, Mentor Graphics, or Altium.
• Experience with Ethernet and fiber and copper communication interfaces.
• Familiarity with signal- and…