FPGA Hardware Design Engineer

Purpose and Impact

Our contract supports more than 12 efforts with varying levels of hardware and software development requirements. Projects focus on front‑end equipment configuration/maintenance, back‑end repositories, dashboards, and everything in between for the full data processing thread. Teams range from one to two developers to a team of 12. All teams work right alongside the customer to discuss requirements, identify solutions, and choose the way forward for implementation.

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

• Design and test new integrated circuits and hardware components for signal processing applications and research.
• Design, document, and develop code (including firmware) for digital signal processors and programmable hardware devices such as ASIC and FPGA.
• Analyze existing integrated circuits and hardware components for reverse engineering of hardware and firmware.
• Conduct hardware engineering functions to modify and adapt vendor‑manufactured hardware to meet special government needs and contingencies.
• Assist with designing new products and processes, improve and maintain existing products, and conduct design analysis on components and assemblies.
• Communicate with engineering personnel to coordinate interrelated designs and assure project completion.
• Apply ASIC or FPGA place‑and‑route tools with various libraries to create physical implementations of designs and maintain documentation for the P&R design flows.
• Perform de‑processing of electronic components and retrieve stored firmware or software using approved reverse‑engineering procedures; develop improved procedures.
• Lead designs of new products and processes, provide technical leadership to less experienced engineers, direct and check the work of other hardware design engineers, and act as an internal consultant on complex projects.

• Assist with designing new products and processes and improving and maintaining existing products.
• Conduct design analysis on components and/or assemblies to ensure cost efficiency, manufacturability, and reliability.
• Apply ASIC or FPGA place‑and‑route tools, integrate new P&R tools and libraries into the government’s CAD environment, and document their use.
• Work with tool and library vendors to develop solutions for designers’ P&R challenges.
• Develop and maintain documentation for P&R design flows.
• Lead the de‑processing of electronic components and develop improved reverse‑engineering procedures.

• 12 years of experience as an HDE in integrated circuit or microelectronic component design or reverse engineering.
• 10 years of programming in VHDL.
• 8 years of programming in Xilinx FPGAs (VIRTEX‑II Pro, VIRTEX‑4, VIRTEX‑5, VIRTEX‑6).
• 5 years of programming on Linux platforms.
• 5 years of experience with XILINX ISE, Synplify Pro, and Model Sim.
• 8 years at 50%: experience writing pin‑level VHDL and clocking constraint files.
• 1 year of programming in one or more scripting languages (PERL, sh, bash, or Python).
• 5 years of using Linux or Unix for day‑to‑day activities.
• Clearance Required:
  
  TS/SCI with Poly.
• Minimum Education:
  
  Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline from an accredited college or university.

• Experience writing Interface Control Documents (ICDs).
• Experience with Microsoft Office Tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Three or more years of experience with revision control applications: git, Subversion (SVN), CVS, Clear Case.
• 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.

• Salary range: $200,000 – $260,000.

• 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…