Principal Hardware Engineer - Hardware Design​/Board Designer

Position: Principal Hardware Engineer - Hardware Design / Board Designer
Job Summary:

Mercury Systems offers Principal Electrical Engineers a fulfilling career where you will see the direct impact of your board designs in deployed systems with true end-to-end ownership. You're not just implementing requirements; you're architecting ruggedized circuit board solutions that must perform under extreme conditions in real-world defense and aerospace applications. You will lead board-level hardware development for mission-critical embedded computing, high-speed digital systems, advanced FPGA solutions, secure processing, and extreme environment electronics supporting operations across air, land, sea, and space.

We emphasize design quality through collaborative reviews and proactive verification, helping teams deliver reliable solutions efficiently. You will shape the organization's technical direction, establish engineering standards, and drive innovation for high-reliability defense and aerospace applications. At Mercury, we work with an Integrator Mindset, collaborating across sites and disciplines to create board-level solutions that directly impact our country's security.

Job Responsibilities:

* Lead board-level design and development of complex digital circuits and modules from concept through production

* Architect advanced electrical circuit board solutions involving secure processing, storage, networking, FPGAs, high-speed interfaces, and extreme environment electronics

* Develop high-speed digital board designs including 400G+ Ethernet, PCIe Gen5+, DDR5+, and advanced interconnects

* Establish engineering best practices, board design guidelines, and quality-focused processes that promote proactive verification

* Support proposal development with technical architecting, cost/schedule estimates, and BOE

* Drive board manufacturability (DFM/DFA/DFT) and collaborate with manufacturing on build issues

Required Qualifications:

* BS in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering (Master's preferred)

* Typically requires 6+ years of electrical engineering experience in board-level hardware design from concept through production

* Experience designing complex embedded digital hardware with high-speed interfaces, memory technologies, and next-generation interconnects

* Strong understanding of signal integrity

* The ability to obtain a DoD Secret Clearance. U.S. Citizenship is required.

Preferred Experience:

Strong candidates typically have experience in several of the following areas:

Digital & High-Speed Technologies

* Intel or other advanced CPU architectures (Xeon-D, Cascade Lake, Granite Rapids)

* Advanced FPGA board technologies (AMD/Xilinx Versal, Intel/Altera Agilex)

* High-speed board interfaces (400G+ Ethernet, PCIe Gen5+, DDR5+)

* Advanced network interface board designs (Nvidia, Broadcom, Marvell)

DoD/Aerospace & Rugged Systems

* VPX/VITA board standards (3U/6U), COM Express, or SoM architectures

* MIL-STD board development in rugged environments

* Secure processing, anti-tamper, or DRFM board designs

* Space electronics or radiation-tolerant component integration

Tools & Analysis

* Cadence schematic capture tools (DEHDL/Concept) or equivalent

* Cadence Allegro or equivalent CAD/SI tools

* Reliability/stress analysis (FMECA, derating)

* Requirements and workflow tools (DOORS, JAMA, JIRA, Confluence)

Leadership & Collaboration

* Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical teams

* Experience supporting proposals, cost/schedule estimates, and BOE development

Location:

* This is a hybrid position; candidate must be in a commutable distance to one of the following Mercury Systems locations:

* Torrance, CA

* Cypress, CA

* Phoenix, AZ

Mercury Systems is also hiring Electrical / Hardware Engineers for our MA and NH locations. See our Careers page for more details.

Why should you join Mercury Systems?

Mercury Systems is a technology company that makes the world a safer, more secure place. We push processing power to the tactical edge, making the latest commercial technologies profoundly more accessible for today's most challenging aerospace and defense missions. From silicon to system scale, Mercury enables customers to accelerate innovation and turn data into decision superiority. Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Mercury employs more than 2,300 people in 24 locations worldwide.

To learn more, visit

Our Culture

We are committed to making Mercury a great place to work, no matter where our employees are located. We offer a casual and enjoyable atmosphere that allows employees to learn and grow. We help and care for one another and work as one to achieve results for us and for our customers. We value communication and transparency, and strive to foster two-way dialogue at all levels of the organization.

We are committed to lifelong learning, offering comprehensive skills training and tuition reimbursement. Whether you're just starting out on your career journey or you are an experienced professional, it's important to us that you feel recognized and rewarded for your contributions.

To find out more about Why…