HDL Technical Team Lead

FIRST RF•Boulder, CO

8d•$150,000 - $250,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for an HDL Technical Team Lead to guide and elevate our FPGA/HDL development efforts across multiple advanced RF programs. This role is ideal for a senior HDL engineer who enjoys technical leadership, system-level thinking, and influencing how teams build, without direct people management responsibilities. You will serve as the technical lead across 3-4 concurrent programs, providing architectural guidance, ensuring consistency and reuse across designs, and helping teams make sound engineering tradeoffs. While approximately 50% of your time will be hands-on (including specialty tooling and targeted development), most of the role is strategic and coordination-focused – driving technical direction, alignment, and execution across projects. This is a high-impact role for someone who enjoys leading through expertise, mentoring by example, and shaping how systems come together on a scale.

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship and ability to obtain a U.S. Security Clearance
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field
3+ years of FPGA/HDL development experience (Verilog, VHDL, or similar)
Experience leading or owning technical direction for HDL designs or projects
Strong understanding of digital system design, timing constraints and interfaces
Experience with high-speed and control interfaces (PCIe, SPI, I2C, AXI, Aurora, JESD, etc.)
Familiarity with RF system concepts and how digital logic interfaces with analog hardware
Ability to think across systems and programs, not just individual blocks

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field
Python, C/C++, or other languages used for tests, tooling, or automation
Linux development experience (user space, device drivers, Yocto, Petalinux)
Simulation and verification tools (Vivado, ModelSim, etc.)
Hardware exposure including board bring-up, lab debug, or schematic review
Experience with modeling or HDL generation tools (e,g., Spade, Veryl)
Prior experience supporting multiple programs or product lines simultaneously

Responsibilities

Serve as the technical lead for HDL development across multiple concurrent programs
Guide system-level HDL architecture and ensure designs align with program requirements and long-term platform strategy
Identify opportunities to reuse architecture, IP, and tooling across projects to improve efficiency and consistency
Lead technical planning, design reviews, and cross-team alignment — ensuring teams move quickly without sacrificing quality
Spend ~50% of your time on specialty tooling, targeted HDL development, and complex problem-solving
Collaborate closely with RF, embedded software, and hardware teams to ensure seamless system integration
Support and mentor HDL engineers through technical guidance, design feedback, and best-practice development — without direct people management
Own and influence design documentation, simulation strategy, verification approach, and integration readiness
Evaluate architectural trade-offs, interfaces, and timing constraints across systems and programs
Support hardware bring-up and integration efforts in Linux-based environments
Evaluate architectural trade-offs, interfaces, and timing constraints across systems and programs