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Engineering Search · Digital Design Recruiting

Hire FPGA Engineers

Hire FPGA Engineers who own the digital design from architecture to timing closure — RTL in VHDL, Verilog or SystemVerilog, high-speed serial and memory interfaces, DSP chains on the fabric, radiation-tolerant and space-grade parts, UVM verification and lab bring-up. Built for radar, software-defined radio, avionics and satellite programs. Reference-verified designs that flew or fielded, not a list of toolchains.

Hire FPGA Engineers →How it works
FPGA Engineer - iRecruit.coExample profile
Mei L.
Vetted Specialists
MEP & Engineering
FPGA Engineer
MSEE · SystemVerilog · Vivado & Quartus
Sectors
Program + product team
Radar · SDR & EW · Avionics · Satellites · Munitions
Role scope
Retained engineering search
Direct-hire FPGA and digital design engineers, individual contributor to lead
Geography
US-wide
Industrial, defense and mission-critical network
Placement warranty
Replacement guarantee
Every model, every placement
How It Works

Hire FPGA Engineers in 3 steps

A structured process for the hire that decides whether the digital design closes timing or the schedule slips a quarter — where the wrong FPGA Engineer writes RTL that simulates clean, fails setup on the real part at temperature, and the first sign is a board respin or a CDC bug that only shows up on the range.

Step 01

Talk to our team

30-minute call. Align on target device family (Xilinx/AMD Versal, UltraScale+ or Kintex; Intel Agilex or Stratix; Microchip PolarFire or RTG4; Lattice), language and flow (VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog, HLS), interface set (JESD204B/C, PCIe, 10/100G Ethernet, DDR4, LVDS, SpaceWire, MIL-STD-1553), DSP content, verification approach, radiation and environment requirements, ITAR or clearance status, program phase, reporting line, and start date.

Step 02

Review hand-selected talent

Within 2 weeks we introduce 3–5 FPGA Engineers with verified design ownership on comparable hardware — people who have architected the block, written and verified the RTL, closed timing on the real part, and brought it up on the bench. References from prior digital design leads and program managers included.

Step 03

Hire with confidence

Every placement carries a replacement guarantee. If the hire fails within the warranty window, we run a no-fee replacement search.

Why iRecruit.co for FPGA Engineer Hires

What makes our FPGA Engineer shortlist different

FPGA Engineers own the part of the system where a data converter meets a processor and every nanosecond is spoken for. Interface fluency, timing closure discipline, and how they verify the design before it reaches the lab separate an engineer who protects the schedule from one who explains the respin.

01

Design ownership verified

Every engineer on the shortlist has owned an FPGA design end to end — requirements to microarchitecture, RTL, constraints, place and route, timing closure, bitstream release and lab bring-up on the target board. We confirm which device families, which interfaces, and which programs the design shipped on, and whether it flew, fielded or stayed on the bench.

02

Timing closure and verification record referenced

Reference-verified history of closing timing on utilization-heavy designs at the corners that matter, clock-domain-crossing discipline, and a real verification method — UVM or cocotb testbenches, coverage-driven closure, formal where used, and hardware-in-the-loop on the bench. Not a resume bullet — a track record confirmed by the people who reviewed their designs. Where the record is not reachable we mark it unverified rather than claiming it.

03

Fluency in the interfaces, the silicon and the environment

JESD204B/C to high-speed ADCs and DACs, PCIe Gen4/5, 10/25/100G Ethernet MACs, DDR4/LPDDR4 controllers, LVDS and SerDes links, SpaceWire and MIL-STD-1553 endpoints, DSP pipelines (FIR, FFT, DDC/DUC, beamforming) in fixed point, SoC integration with Zynq and Versal ARM cores, and the radiation-tolerant world of Kintex UltraScale XQR, RTG4, PolarFire and TMR-plus-scrubbing mitigation. Matched to your device and mission, not a generalist from consumer silicon.

Meet Vetted FPGA Engineers

The caliber of FPGA Engineer you’ll interview

Every candidate is credential-verified, reference-checked, and matched to your device family, interface set and mission environment. Anonymized examples below reflect real placement profiles.

Vetted SpecialistsFemale FPGA Engineer - radar development labExample profile

Leila H.

Radar Signal Processing FPGA Engineer
  • Owned the receive-chain FPGA on an AESA radar: JESD204B capture from eight 3 GSPS ADCs, DDC and pulse compression on an UltraScale+ RFSoC, closed at 500 MHz fabric clock at 82% utilization
  • Built a UVM environment for the DSP pipeline with bit-exact MATLAB reference models; 97% functional coverage before first hardware, zero DSP-path defects found in integration
  • Cut place-and-route iterations from 14 to 3 per release by rewriting the clock architecture and constraint set, holding the program to its CDR schedule
RFSoCJESD204BUVM
Vetted SpecialistsMale FPGA Engineer - satellite avionics cleanroomExample profile

Omar Z.

Spacecraft Avionics FPGA Engineer
  • Designed the command and data handling FPGA for a LEO constellation bus on RTG4 and Kintex UltraScale XQR: SpaceWire router, 1553 remote terminal, and a triple-modular-redundant soft-core with configuration scrubbing
  • Ran the radiation mitigation strategy through heavy-ion test at a cyclotron facility with no functional interrupts across two test campaigns; design flown on 22 spacecraft
  • Delivered VHDL to a DO-254-style process with requirements traceability and independent verification, passing the customer design review with no open actions
RTG4 / XQRSpaceWire / 1553Rad mitigation
Vetted SpecialistsFemale FPGA Engineer - SDR integration labExample profile

Julian R.

Software-Defined Radio FPGA Lead
  • Led a team of five FPGA engineers on a tactical SDR and EW payload: Zynq UltraScale+ platform, multi-channel DDC/DUC, 100G Ethernet streaming to a GPU backend, and a PCIe Gen4 host interface
  • Architected the firmware partition between the ARM cores and fabric, cutting end-to-end latency from 41 µs to 9 µs on a jam-resistant waveform
  • Stood up continuous integration for RTL: automated cocotb regression, lint and CDC checks on every commit, with release bitstreams built reproducibly for six fielded variants
Zynq UltraScale+100G / PCIeTeam lead
FPGA Engineer Specializations

Match the FPGA Engineer specialty to your device, interface set and mission

“FPGA Engineer” covers a radar DSP chain on an RFSoC, a rad-hard command and data handling design on RTG4 and a flight-control interface under DO-254 — and the device families, standards and verification expectations are different in each. Below are the specializations we recruit for:

Radar / DSP FPGA Engineer
JESD204, DDC/DUC, pulse compression, beamforming on RFSoC
Hire for this specialty
SDR / EW FPGA Engineer
Waveforms, multi-channel DDC, low-latency streaming, Zynq SoC
Hire for this specialty
Spacecraft Avionics FPGA Engineer
Rad-tolerant parts, SpaceWire, 1553, TMR and scrubbing
Hire for this specialty
Flight-Critical FPGA Engineer (DO-254)
Airborne electronic hardware, DAL A–C, traceability
Hire for this specialty
High-Speed Interface FPGA Engineer
PCIe Gen4/5, 100G Ethernet, DDR4, SerDes and LVDS links
Hire for this specialty
FPGA Verification Engineer
UVM, cocotb, formal, coverage closure, HIL
Hire for this specialty
Embedded SoC / Firmware FPGA Engineer
Zynq and Versal, ARM-fabric partition, drivers, PetaLinux
Hire for this specialty
FPGA / Digital Design Lead
Architecture, team leadership, design reviews, release process
Hire for this specialty
Hardware Engineer (peer)
Board-level design that hosts the FPGA
Hire for this specialty
RF Engineer (peer)
The analog front end ahead of the converter
Hire for this specialty
Avionics Engineer (peer)
Flight computers, buses and avionics integration
Hire for this specialty
Director of Engineering (leader)
Electronics and firmware organization leadership
Hire for this specialty

Not sure which FPGA Engineer specialty fits?

We’ll help you scope the role on the call — device family, interface set, DSP content, verification expectations, radiation and program requirements.

Hire FPGA Engineers →
Vetting Criteria

What we verify on every FPGA Engineer candidate

FPGA Engineer hires live and die on interface fluency, timing closure discipline, and whether the design was verified before it reached the bench. Below is what every candidate has documented before you meet them:

Design ownership

Reference-verified ownership of at least one FPGA design from microarchitecture through bitstream release and bring-up on comparable hardware — device family, utilization, fabric clock, interface set, and whether the design fielded or flew. We ask specifically what failed in the lab, what they changed, and what the design review said.

RTL, constraints and timing closure

Verified working language depth in VHDL, Verilog or SystemVerilog, constraint authoring (XDC or SDC), clock-domain-crossing and reset discipline, floorplanning and physical optimization, and a record of closing timing on utilization-heavy designs across process, voltage and temperature corners in Vivado, Quartus or Libero.

Verification method

Verified testbench ownership — UVM, SystemVerilog assertions, cocotb or VUnit — with coverage-driven closure, bit-exact reference models where DSP is in scope, formal or equivalence checks where used, and hardware-in-the-loop validation on the target board.

Interface, DSP and environment fit

Verified hands-on history with the interfaces and content your design carries (JESD204B/C, PCIe, Ethernet, DDR, SpaceWire, 1553, SerDes; FIR/FFT/DDC chains in fixed point), plus radiation mitigation (TMR, scrubbing, SEU test), DO-254 traceability, or SoC partitioning where the program demands it.

Credentials verified

Engineering degree, US-person status for ITAR programs, any active clearance, vendor training or certification (AMD/Xilinx, Intel, Microchip), DO-254 process experience, and any published or patented work where claimed — all checked.

Compensation alignment

Individual contributor, senior and lead FPGA Engineer comp bands aligned before finalists are introduced, including equity expectations at venture-backed defense-tech and space companies and clearance premiums where applicable.

FAQ

Hiring an FPGA Engineer: frequently asked questions

How long does it take to hire an FPGA Engineer?

Time to shortlist is typically 2 weeks from scoping call. Total time to placement (shortlist through offer acceptance) is typically 3–5 weeks. Sitting FPGA engineers rarely leave mid-tapeout or mid-integration — we manage notice periods around release milestones as part of the search. If you have a CDR, a board bring-up or a range date on the calendar, tell us on the call and we prioritize candidates who can start inside the window.

What does an FPGA Engineer cost in 2026?

Most US FPGA Engineers with three to seven years on defense, radar or space hardware land between $130K and $175K base depending on metro and clearance. Senior and lead FPGA engineers who own architecture, close timing on complex RFSoC or Versal designs and carry radiation or DO-254 experience typically run $175K–$230K base plus bonus or equity at venture-backed defense-tech and space companies; cleared engineers in the DC, Huntsville and Southern California markets sit at the top of those bands. These are market bands; we confirm live market bands for your program during scoping.

How is an FPGA Engineer different from a Hardware Engineer?

A Hardware Engineer owns the board — schematic, layout, power, signal integrity and the physical parts that surround the FPGA. An FPGA Engineer owns what runs inside the device: architecture, RTL, constraints, timing and verification. Small teams often merge the two into one seat through the first prototype; once the design carries high-speed converters, a rad-tolerant part or a certification basis, it needs a dedicated FPGA profile.

FPGA Engineer versus Embedded Software or Firmware Engineer — which do I need?

If the work is C or C++ on an ARM core, Linux drivers and application logic, that is embedded software. If it is RTL on the fabric — a JESD204 link, a DSP pipeline, a 1553 endpoint, a soft-core with TMR — it is FPGA. Zynq and Versal programs need both, and the partition between them is one of the first things we scope. An Avionics Engineer sits above both at the flight computer and bus level.

Do you require a specific degree or certification?

No. Most candidates hold a BS or MS in electrical or computer engineering, and vendor training is a useful signal we verify when claimed, but reference-verified design ownership and a working verification method outweigh certificates. Where the seat is DO-254 or radiation-critical, we do weight documented process experience and test campaign history heavily.

Can you recruit FPGA Engineers for ITAR-controlled or cleared programs?

Yes. We screen for US-person status where the program requires it, document any active Secret or TS/SCI clearance held, and verify prior work under ITAR, CUI and DCMA oversight. We do not shortlist candidates who cannot meet the access requirements on your call.

Do you offer a placement guarantee?

Yes. Every FPGA Engineer placement carries a replacement guarantee. Guarantee terms are confirmed in writing at engagement start. The guarantee applies across retained engineering search, embedded and RPO engagements alike.

Can you build a full digital design team?

Yes. Multi-hire builds (FPGA lead plus FPGA and verification engineers, Hardware Engineers, RF Engineers and Test Engineers) route through aerospace and defense engineering search, embedded recruiting or RPO. Directors of electronics and firmware engineering route through executive search.

Ready to hire

Talk to an engineering search recruiter

30-minute scoping conversation. We’ll review the FPGA Engineer role you need — device family, interface set, DSP content, verification expectations, radiation or DO-254 requirements, clearance, reporting line — then recommend the right hire path and start sourcing.

Hire FPGA Engineers →
Related: Hardware Engineer hiring  ·  RF Engineer hiring  ·  Avionics Engineer hiring
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