Lead Hardware Engineer

We are seeking experienced, SC Cleared Lead Hardware Engineers for an initial 6 months contract assignment to support the development of next-generation Electronic Warfare and Defensive Aids Systems deployed on fast jets, helicopters, UAVs, naval and land-based platforms.

The role is working 4 days on site based in Luton, 1 day remote. You must hold current, active SC Clearance.

This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex technical challenges involving high-speed digital design, FPGA-based architectures, signal processing, hardware integration and system qualification within a highly regulated defence environment.

Working within multi-disciplinary engineering teams, you will contribute across the complete development lifecycle-from requirements analysis and architecture definition through detailed design, integration, qualification and customer acceptance.

You will be designing advanced electronic hardware that delivers mission-critical capability to frontline operators.

What You'll Be Doing

• 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.

What We're Looking For

Essential Experience

• 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).
• Experience designing complex multilayer PCBs incorporating:
• High-speed serial interfaces
• High-performance processors
• DDR memory subsystems
• FPGA-based signal processing solutions
• Hands-on experience with schematic capture and PCB design tools such as:
• Altium Designer
• Xpedition/Expedition
• OrCAD
• Similar industry-standard tools
• Practical board-level debugging using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, spectrum analysers and protocol analysers.
• Experience integrating hardware, firmware and software on complex Embedded systems.
• Strong understanding of signal integrity, power integrity and timing considerations in high-speed digital designs.
• Experience developing products to demanding EMC, EMI and environmental requirements.
• Ability to interpret, decompose and implement system requirements into robust hardware solutions.
• Experience supporting verification, validation and qualification activities.

Ideal Contractor Profile

You are an experienced hardware designer who can quickly integrate into a programme team, take ownership of technical work packages and deliver robust, high-performance digital hardware solutions. You are comfortable working from system requirements through design, integration, verification and qualification, and have a strong track record of delivering FPGA-centric, high-speed digital electronics in demanding engineering environments.

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