ASIC/FPGA/Hardware Engineer

About the role

Battelle’s Cyber Advanced Microsystem Solutions business unit is seeking an early-career ASIC/FPGA/Hardware Engineer to work in our Columbus, Ohio location. We are an elite, multi-disciplinary team bringing together experts in physics, computer science, electrical engineering, and mathematics to develop unique embedded security solutions for government and industrial customers. Battelle has been trusted by elite government clients to solve some of the world’s hardest security problems. We work in small agile teams to push the bounds of computing technology, with access to high-powered labs including specialized software and hardware.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Advanced Microsystem Solutions team to assess the security, reliability, and trustworthiness of electronic devices, integrated circuits, and embedded systems.
• Perform and support digital circuit analysis throughout various stages of the design lifecycle (RTL, netlist, layout, firmware, bitstreams, etc.) using techniques such as static analysis, formal methods, simulation, and hardware testing/troubleshooting.
• Prototype and develop software implementations for novel research theories.
• Conduct and/or participate in assigned technical tasks and activities with minimum supervision and within time and budget constraints.
• Identify and articulate strengths and weaknesses of solutions, conclusions, and problem approaches during technical discussions.
• Present technical findings to internal and external stakeholders tailored to the client's mission.
• Contribute to rapid prototyping efforts supporting Internal Research and Development (IR&D) studies and mission-driven timelines.
• Document designs, testing, and integration processes to support reproducibility.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with 0-6 years of experience in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field of study; Master’s degree with 0-4 years of experience; or equivalent experience.
• Experience in the full life cycle of Integrated Circuit Design including processes such as Simulation, Synthesis, Layout, and Fabrication.
• Experience in the full FPGA development flow including RTL design, simulation, synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, and on-board validation/debug.
• Experience writing Hardware Design Languages (VHDL, Verilog, and/or SystemVerilog) for Register Transfer Logic (RTL), behavioral modeling, and testbench creation.
• Knowledge of hardware validation, debugging, and sign-off methodologies including analysis of simulation results, timing reports, code coverage, equivalence checking, static analysis, etc.
• Familiarity with one or more of the following Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools: Cadence, Synopsys, Siemens, Xilinx Vivado, Altera Quartus, Questa, Modelsim, Icarus Verilog, Verilator, etc.
• Ability to work independently and in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• Organize and follow standard operating procedures and health and safety guidelines.
• Must be a US Citizen with eligibility to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Top Secret Clearance with SCI eligibility.
• Experience with leading technical discussions and small IR&D tasks, demonstrating command of the technology and adequately fielding questions which arise.
• Experience building teams of technical experts across a range of skills for collaboration on hard problems and facilitating technical discussions with lower-level staff.
• An understanding of business product offerings and contributing to marketing/business development by providing technical expertise during marketing engagements as well as support business development efforts led by others.
• Experience with forming the technical approach and generating technical volumes for small proposals with minimal guidance.
• Experience with leading Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) creation and labor estimates.
• Experience with one or more of the following:
  • Machine Learning and/or Data Mining
  • Trusted Electronics, Hardware Security, Side-Channel Analysis
  • Failure analysis tools, techniques, and processes
  • PCB Design
  • Electronic test and measurement equipment and/or debugging operations with both high-speed interfaces
  • Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and Radio Frequency (RF) digital design
  • FPGAs containing embedded processors
  • Ability to translate ambiguous requirements into working solutions
  • Tapeout experience of mixed-signal chips
  • Programming with Python, Matlab, Labview, or C/C++/C#
  • Working knowledge of Focused Ion Beam (FIB)/ Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) capabilities
  • Reverse Engineering and Vulnerability Research of embedded systems
  • Experience with a disassembler (Ghidra, IDA Pro, BinaryNinja)
  • Experience with one or more embedded instruction set architectures (ARM, RISC-V, AVR, etc.)

Pay

The salary range for this role is $85,000 - $140,000 per year. A candidate's salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to education, relevant work experience, skills, and certifications. Salary ranges may vary based on geographic location and market conditions.

Benefits

• Comprehensive and competitive benefits package.
• Compressed work schedule: Most of our team follows a flexible, compressed work schedule that allows for every other Friday off.
• Enhanced work flexibility: Hybrid arrangement allowing 60% in-office and 40% remote work, with Monday and Tuesday as common in-office days.
• Paid time off to support work-life balance.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage with wellness incentives and benefits, plus optional supplemental benefits.
• Coverage for partners, gender-affirming care and health support, and family formation support.
• Industry-leading 401(k) retirement savings plan with a 5% employer contribution and matching contributions.
• Tuition assistance for pursuing higher education.