Senior DigitalEmbedded Firmware Engineer

The Defense Systems Group at Leidos has an immediate opening for a Senior Digital Firmware Design Engineer at our St. Petersburg FL facility. This position supports the development of advanced mission-critical military communications systems and involves the design integration testing and optimization of secure ruggedized electronic hardware for defense applications.

The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in FPGA-based digital design and hands-on experience integrating hardware and firmware within complex embedded systems. This individual will have a demonstrated track record supporting defense programs across the full product lifecyclefrom requirements development and architectural design through integration qualification testing and transition to production.

The Leidos St. Petersburg facility specializes in the design development modeling and simulation analysis prototyping and testing of advanced electronic systems. Our primary focus areas include embedded communications systems Software Defined Radios (SDR) and Phased Array Antenna Systems supporting Department of Defense and commercial customers.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Participate in a multi-disciplinary engineering team developing secure high-performance military communications hardware and firmware.
• Analyze and decompose system-level requirements into detailed hardware design specifications with full traceability.
• Perform Logic Design; write VHDL code perform synthesis logic simulation test bench generation functional testing and hardware debugging of designs within FPGA/CPLD devices.
• Architect implement and test embedded firmware /software within FPGA-based digital designs including signal processing control logic and high-speed interfaces on a variety of platforms (FPGAs microcontrollers microprocessors and mixed signal designs).
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex hardware firmware / software and integration issues across prototype and production phases.
• Support design reviews (SRR PDR CDR) technical documentation and configuration management processes.
• Provide technical input for cost estimates schedules and risk assessments.
• Collaborate closely with Firmware Software RF systems and test engineering teams throughout the development lifecycle.

Clearance Requirements:

• U.S. Citizen required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance.
• Active Secret clearance preferred.
• Ability to obtain Top Secret clearance preferred.

Required Qualifications:

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering Computer Engineering or related field.
• 6 years of experience in embedded hardware and digital design (8 preferred for Senior level).
• Experience supporting full product development lifecycle including:
  • Requirements analysis System design and hardware implementation Integration and test
  • Firmware/software architecture development for embedded systems including FPGAs and SoCs
  • Technical documentation and formal design reviews
• Strong VHDL FPGA/SoC design and implementation experience:
  • Digital logic design using VHDL with System-On-Chip devices (SOCs) FPGAs CPLD/s and/or Microcontrollers.
  • Modern vendor design tools (IDEs) such as Xilinx Vivado Vitis Altera Libero SoC Lattice Diamond
  • Simulation and Testbench generation (Xilinx simulator Aldec Active HDL Riveria Pro Modelsim or similar)
  • RISC microprocessors architectures (ARM Cortex Microblaze PowerPC RISC-V)
  • C/C language software development for embedded real-time systems.

• Experience with one or more of the following:
  • Integrating and troubleshooting digital subsystems within embedded systems.
  • Digital interfaces such as I2C SPI RS-232/422 USB Ethernet
  • ADC/DAC devices and understanding performance characteristics.
  • Hands-on lab experience debugging hardware using oscilloscopes logic analyzers and related tools
• Understand trade-offs of embedded system targets (FPGA SoC microcontroller RTOS bare-metal) for developing best cost/option architectures

Preferred Qualifications:

• Active Secret or Top Secret clearance.
• Experience with one or more of the following:
  • FPGA/SOC/u-Processor manufacturers including Xilinx Microsemi ST-Micro Lattice etc
  • High-speed interfaces/protocols such as PCIe JESD204B LVDS and SERDES
  • Simulation and modeling tools (MATLAB Python LabVIEW)
  • Embedded operating systems (Linux VxWorks FreeRTOS)
  • Implementing signal processing concepts such as digital filters digital modulation up/down conversion within HDL designs
  • IP cores and modern processor interfaces (Xilinx IP Cores AXI4 AXI-Stream)
  • Design integration and testing electronic circuits within embedded systems including digital analog and radio frequency (RF) subsystems.

Experience developing ruggedized or military communication systems

Experience transitioning prototype designs into production hardware TRL5/6 through TRL 8/9)

Familiar with schematic capture and PCB design tools (Altium Cadence Allegro/OrCAD KiCAD or equivalent)

If youre looking for comfort keep scrolling. At Leidos we outthink outbuild and outpace the status quo because the mission demands it. Were not hiring followers. Were recruiting the ones who disrupt provoke and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. Were already at step 30 and moving faster than anyone else dares.

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job education experience knowledge skills and abilities as well as internal equity alignment with market data applicable bargaining agreement (if any) or other law.