Senior FPGA Engineer

About the role

General Atomics (GA) and its affiliated companies develop high‑technology systems ranging from nuclear fuel cycle to remotely piloted aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies. The Senior FPGA Engineer will join the Mission Systems team within the Electromagnetic Systems group, supporting the CSS Innovations team that provides cutting‑edge security solutions for the U.S. Government. The position is located in Herndon, VA and works on spacecraft payload and system development, ground control software, embedded software, and unique cyber capabilities for DoD and Intelligence Community customers.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical contributor in derived‑requirements definition, avionics hardware development, and system integration, test, and verification for spacecraft and associated flight‑payload and ground electronics.
• Lead and contribute to digital and FPGA hardware/firmware development, including architecture definition, FPGA design, schematic development, board functional testing, firmware development, and associated test‑software development.
• Define and evaluate technical approaches for complex engineering problems and establish effective solutions that satisfy mission, performance, cost, schedule, reliability, and compliance requirements.
• Develop and maintain long‑term technical plans for solution development, documentation, deployment, verification, sustainment, and compliance with applicable reporting and safety standards.
• Lead the evaluation and integration of engineering solutions within the overall system and program environment, ensuring appropriate documentation, testing, maintenance, configuration management, and engineering updates are completed.
• Establish technical objectives, develop architectures, and provide technical direction for solutions addressing advanced engineering problems.
• Plan, coordinate, and oversee the development and implementation of engineering solutions, including resource requirements, testing, documentation, integration, deployment, compliance, and safety.
• Serve as a prime technical contact for assigned projects and programs; communicate effectively with engineering professionals, solution users, customers, management, and government representatives throughout the development lifecycle.
• Represent the Company in technical discussions with senior external personnel and coordinate technical matters across organizational boundaries.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to less experienced engineers and may lead multidisciplinary project teams.
• Lead or support technical reviews, design reviews, risk assessments, root‑cause investigations, and resolution of complex hardware and firmware issues.
• Plan and coordinate the maintenance and evolution of engineering solutions, including documentation, reporting, publishing, technical presentations, and updates required to ensure continued viability in an evolving environment.
• Evaluate emerging engineering technologies and plan for future applications that may improve product performance, reliability, manufacturability, testability, or mission capability.
• Lead or support the development of new business opportunities and the expansion of existing business, including technical proposals, statements of work, customer briefings, and technology discussions.
• Maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Observe all laws, regulations, and other applicable obligations wherever and whenever business is conducted on behalf of the Company.
• Work in a safe manner in accordance with established operating procedures and practices.
• Perform other duties as assigned or required.

Qualifications

Typically requires a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and progressive engineering experience as follows: twelve or more years of experience with a bachelor’s degree, ten or more years with a master’s degree, or seven or more years with a PhD; equivalent engineering experience may be substituted for education.

• Extensive and advanced technical expertise in FPGA, digital hardware, embedded systems, and engineering principles, concepts, theory, and practice.
• Ability to define architectures, develop technical approaches, resolve complex