Principal Hardware Electrical Engineer

About the role

Mercury Systems is seeking a Principal Electrical Engineer to lead the development of ruggedized board-level hardware for advanced embedded computing, high-speed digital systems, advanced FPGA solutions, and secure processing for extreme-environment electronics across air, land, sea, and space. This role involves providing end-to-end technical leadership, shaping hardware architectures, driving engineering standards, and ensuring high-reliability designs through collaborative reviews and proactive verification.

Responsibilities

• Lead board-level design and development of complex digital circuits and modules from concept through production
• Architect advanced electrical circuit board solutions incorporating secure processing, storage, networking, FPGA technologies, high-speed interfaces, and electronics designed for extreme environments
• Develop and analyze high-speed digital board designs including 400G+ Ethernet, PCIe Gen5+, DDR5+, and next-generation interconnect technologies
• Establish engineering best practices, design guidelines, and quality-focused processes that enable proactive verification and high-reliability board development
• Support proposal efforts by providing technical system architectures, cost and schedule estimates, and Basis of Estimate (BOE) contributions
• Drive design-for-manufacturability (DFM), design-for-assembly (DFA), and design-for-test (DFT) initiatives and collaborate with manufacturing to address board build issues
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration with systems, software, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering teams to ensure integrated, robust hardware solutions

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering
• Typically requires a minimum of 6+ years of electrical engineering experience in board-level hardware design from concept through production
• Experience architecting and designing complex embedded digital hardware incorporating high-speed interfaces (400G+ Ethernet, PCIe Gen5+, DDR5+), memory technologies, and advanced interconnects
• Strong understanding of high-speed digital signal integrity principles
• Proficiency with board-level schematic capture tools and collaboration with CAD/SI teams throughout the PCB design process
• Experience mentoring engineers, supporting cross-functional collaboration, and contributing to technical leadership within engineering teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with advanced CPU architectures such as Intel Xeon-D, Cascade Lake, or Granite Rapids
• Experience designing FPGA board-level solutions using AMD/Xilinx Versal or Intel/Altera Agilex
• Experience designing advanced network interface boards (Nvidia, Broadcom, Marvell)
• Background with VPX/VITA standards (3U/6U), COM Express, or SoM architectures
• Experience developing MIL-STD-based rugged electronics or secure/anti-tamper/DRM hardware
• Exposure to space electronics or integration of radiation-tolerant components
• Proficiency with Cadence DEHDL/Concept schematic capture tools and Cadence Allegro or equivalent CAD/SI platforms
• Experience with reliability or stress analysis techniques such as FMECA or derating
• Familiarity with requirements and workflow tools such as DOORS, JAMA, JIRA, or Confluence
• Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical teams
• Experience supporting proposals, cost/schedule estimates, and BOE development

Benefits

Fulltime Equivalent Job Grade
Salary Range for this position: $87,100.00 - $182,900.00 annual salary for in-office or hybrid employees in FL, GA, IN, AZ, AL, MD or TX, and all remote employees
$97,600.00 - $204,800.00 annual salary for in-office or hybrid employees in VA, CA, NH or MA
$102,800.00 - $215,800.00 annual salary for in-office or hybrid employees in NJ

Pay & Schedule

Salary Range for this position: $87,100.00 - $182,900.00 annual salary for in-office or hybrid employees in FL, GA, IN, AZ, AL, MD or TX, and all remote employees
$97,600.00 - $204,800.00 annual salary for in-office or hybrid employees in VA, CA, NH or MA
$102,800.00 - $215,800.00 annual salary for in-office or hybrid employees in NJ

Company Information

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.

Why Mercury?

Mercury Systems is 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.