Principal FPGA Engineer (Cybersecurity)

Location: Maidenhead, United Kingdom; onsite. Candidates must be British Citizens who have been resident in the UK for the past 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV clearance.

Company

Ultra Intelligence & Communications develops defence technology, including cryptographic and key management solutions for confidential information exchange.

What you will do

• Lead the architecture, design, implementation, integration, and verification of FPGA firmware systems.
• Derive robust firmware requirements from user and systems-level requirements and provide input on ambiguity and verifiability.
• Develop firmware architectures, designs, specifications, verification methodologies, and requirement traceability documentation.
• Contribute to product design reviews, sign off significant technical documents, and chair technical reviews.
• Provide specialist FPGA and firmware guidance, mentor engineers, and improve development processes.
• Lead firmware engineering teams when required, including objectives, delivery dates, status, and cost tracking.

Requirements

• Degree in engineering, mathematics, science, or equivalent experience.
• Full-lifecycle firmware development experience across multiple projects, including proficient VHDL development and verification.
• Experience with Xilinx, Lattice, Altera, or Microsemi FPGAs and associated development toolchains.
• Ability to design synchronous and asynchronous systems, interpret hardware schematics, and use FPGA EDA tools.
• Knowledge of UART, USART, SPI, I2C, TCP/IP, and UDP communication protocols, plus version control, change management, and defect tracking.
• Must be willing and able to obtain and maintain DV security clearance; British citizenship and UK residency history are required for the relevant clearance process.

Nice to have

• Defence or military equipment development experience and knowledge of operational constraints.
• Experience with UK High Grade Cryptographic products or other high-assurance secure systems.
• Exposure to continuous integration, automated testing, defence or aerospace coding standards such as MISRA, DOORS, and Enterprise Architect.
• Experience in digital electronics and digital logic design.

Culture & Benefits

• Annual bonus scheme, private medical cover, pension contribution, and 4x life assurance.
• 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase five additional days.
• Flexible working hours, including the opportunity for a 1pm finish on Fridays.
• Flexible benefits such as cycle-to-work and will-writing schemes.
• Security clearance allowance where applicable and subject to holding the required clearance.
• Equal opportunity workplace supporting diversity, inclusion, and flexible working requests where possible.