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# Lead Hardware Engineer

- **Company:** Arm Limited
- **Location:** Caddington, UK
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** £145,600.0
- **Contract:** Temporary contract
- **Skills:** Board Bringup, Software Debugging, Digital Arts, Digital Electronics, Logic Synthesis of Circuits, Ethernet, Firmware, Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Hardware Design, PCI Express, Signal Processing, Systems Integration, SC Clearance, Pcb Layout
- **Published:** August 26, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.collegerecruiter.com/job/2815254556-lead-hardware-engineer

## About the Role

Required to solve complex technical challenges involving high-speed digital design, FPGA-based architectures, signal processing, hardware integration and system qualification within a highly regulated defence environment., * Proven experience designing high-speed digital electronics within aerospace, defence or other safety/mission-critical industries.

 * Strong background in FPGA and SoC-based hardware architectures (Xilinx, AMD, Intel/Altera or equivalent).
 * Practical board-level debugging using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, spectrum analysers and protocol analysers.
 * Experience integrating hardware, firmware and software on complex embedded systems.
 * Experience developing products to demanding EMC, EMI and environmental requirements.
 * Experience designing complex multilayer PCBs incorporating: High-speed serial interfaces; High-performance processors; DDR memory subsystems & FPGA-based signal processing solutions.
 * Knowledge of DO-254, DEF STAN, MIL-STD or equivalent aerospace and defence standards.
 * Experience with FPGA signal processing architecture

## Description

Lead Hardware Engineer

Based in Luton

12-month contract

Paying up to £70p/h (Inside IR35)

Please note - Due to the nature of the work, you'll be required to already hold or be eligible to obtain a high level of UK Security Clearance

Overview

Required to solve complex technical challenges involving high-speed digital design, FPGA-based architectures, signal processing, hardware integration and system qualification within a highly regulated defence environment.

Responsibilities

 * Design and develop complex digital and mixed-signal hardware solutions for defence and aerospace applications.
 * Define hardware architectures for FPGA, SoC and processor-based systems.
 * Capture schematics and support PCB layout activities for high-speed, high-performance digital designs.
 * Design and verify high-speed interfaces including DDR memory, PCIe, Ethernet and similar protocols.
 * Integrate FPGA, processor, software and firmware components into complete system solutions.
 * Perform design analysis, simulation, validation and verification activities.
 * Support hardware bring-up, debugging and root-cause investigation at board and system level.
 * Work closely with Systems, Firmware, Software, RF, Mechanical and Production Engineering teams.
 * Support environmental, EMC/EMI and qualification testing in accordance with defence and aerospace standards.
 * Produce technical documentation, design evidence and progress reporting in accordance with structured engineering lifecycles.
 * Support customer demonstrations, integration activities, acceptance testing and trials.

Experience required

 * Proven experience designing high-speed digital electronics within aerospace, defence or other safety/mission-critical industries.
 * Strong background in FPGA and SoC-based hardware architectures (Xilinx, AMD, Intel/Altera or equivalent).
 * Practical board-level debugging using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, spectrum analysers and protocol analysers.
 * Experience integrating hardware, firmware and software on complex embedded systems.
 * Experience developing products to demanding EMC, EMI and environmental requirements.
 * Experience designing complex multilayer PCBs incorporating: High-speed serial interfaces; High-performance processors; DDR memory subsystems & FPGA-based signal processing solutions.
 * Knowledge of DO-254, DEF STAN, MIL-STD or equivalent aerospace and defence standards.
 * Experience with FPGA signal processing architecture


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