Lead Firmware Engineer - Aerospace

Overview

REAL TIME CONSULTING (An RTCo Company)—POSITION DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE:
Lead Firmware Engineer - Aerospace

About The Job

Responsible for designing, developing, verifying, and maintaining safety-critical firmware for avionics and embedded systems for TCAS and transponder applications in compliance with DO-254 standards. You will work closely with hardware engineers, system architects, and certification authorities to ensure robust design assurance processes are followed throughout the product lifecycle. Ideal candidates will have a deep understanding of FPGA/ASIC development, VHDL/Verilog, and requirements-based verification, with a proven design history in developing firmware for FAA/EASA-certified aerospace systems.

You will be involved with multidisciplinary project teams involving mechanical, electrical, digital/analog, RF, firmware, and software engineering in planning, designing, prototyping, and testing of avionics systems. You will additionally be responsible for mentorship of junior engineers, as well as ensuring the Surveillance product line follows industry best practices for product development. The design focus will include surveillance avionics for Air Transport, as well as General Aviation and emerging platforms, such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) eVTOL aircraft.

• Design, develop, verify, and maintain safety-critical firmware for avionics and embedded systems in compliance with DO-254.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers, system architects, and certification authorities to ensure robust design assurance throughout the product lifecycle.
• Lead FPGA/ASIC development, VHDL/Verilog, and requirements-based verification; maintain a proven firmware design history for FAA/EASA-certified aerospace systems.
• Engage with multidisciplinary project teams (mechanical, electrical, digital/analog, RF, firmware, software) in planning, designing, prototyping, and testing of avionics systems.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote best practices for product development within the Surveillance product line.
• Contribute to design focus areas including surveillance avionics for Air Transport, General Aviation, and emerging platforms such as UAM eVTOL.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering and minimum 9 years of prior relevant experience, or Graduate Degree and a minimum of 7 years of prior related experience.
• Minimum 6 years of prior relevant experience in an engineering discipline with systems engineering principles, including requirements definition, requirements verification, design reviews and documentation, integration, test, and demonstration.
• Minimum 7 years’ experience with FPGA and firmware design.
• Hands-on experience designing and developing avionics products, RF, or sensor systems.
• Experience with Xilinx and Microchip FPGAs along with associated tools (ISE, Vivado, Libero).
• Experience with simulation tools (Active HDL/Questa Sim).
• Must be knowledgeable in VHDL and/or Verilog RTL coding.
• Knowledge of DO-254 Airborne Electronic Hardware development lifecycle.
• Experience with requirements-based verification.
• Excellent people skills, with experience leading and collaborating in a multi-disciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team environment.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Accountable and takes ownership of assigned tasks
• Self-motivated and takes initiative to get things done
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills

• Experience with and an understanding of aerospace systems, especially in the development of integrated hardware/software products.
• Exposure to Model-Based Systems Engineering.
• Awareness of electrical development requirements as they impact firmware and FPGA design.
• Experience with RTOS integration and understanding of its implications on hardware design.
• Practical understanding of the complexities of RF design, especially in the L-band frequency range, and application of RF FPGA principles.
• Knowledge of DO-160 and DO-178.
• Experience with Design to Cost and Design for Manufacturability.
• Experience effectively supporting the production and testing of products in a different geographic…