Job Summary:

Senior Specialist, FPGA Digital Design Engineer (Contractor, L4)

Location:

Bristol, PA |

Schedule:

9/80—Every Other Friday Off |

Rate:

~$78.82/hr About the Role Join L3Harris's TRF Bristol engineering team as a Senior FPGA Digital Design Engineer, contractor level 4, and play a vital part in creating next-generation airborne telemetry, RF, secure communications, and embedded flight-safety solutions for critical US and allied aerospace and defense platforms. You'll collaborate with cross-functional teams in a dynamic, high-reliability environment, transforming system requirements into robust FPGA firmware that powers mission success. Responsibilities

• Drive FPGA architecture, design, implementation, and integration across full product lifecycle
• Translate system and circuit-card requirements into optimized VHDL-based FPGA solutions
• Execute simulation, verification, and integration for airborne and ruggedized environments
• Develop advanced digital signal processing, communication, and encryption functions on FPGAs
• Apply disciplined development, peer review, and documentation practices
• Produce thorough technical documents, design reviews, diagrams, interface docs, and test plans
• Collaborate with RF, systems, electrical, and software engineers for seamless integration
• Support production readiness, qualification, environmental testing, and performance validation Required Skills and Experience
• Bachelor's degree with 6+ years, graduate degree with 4+ years, or 10+ years relevant engineering experience
• Minimum 4 years hands-on VHDL and FPGA development experience
• Proven ability to implement FPGA designs with challenging timing and resource constraints
• Experience integrating FPGAs on circuit card assemblies; skilled with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, signal generators
• Proficiency with at least one major FPGA vendor platform: AMD (Xilinx), Intel (Altera), or Microchip (Microsemi)
• Eligibility to obtain and maintain a US Secret security clearance Preferred Skills
• Ruggedized airborne, secure communications, telemetry, or RF FPGA hardware design
• FPGA verification against MATLAB/Simulink models
• Digital signal processing algorithm implementation (modulation, filtering, signal conversion)
• Experience with multiple FPGA toolsets (Vivado, Quartus, Libero) and embedded-system integration
• Knowledge of qualification and environmental test processes for high-reliability hardware
• Background in secure/encryption-related FPGA processing
• Familiarity with embedded microcontrollers or mixed FPGA-processor architectures Benefits
• Enjoy a unique 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off for optimal work-life balance
• Gain exposure to cutting-edge aerospace and defense technology
• Collaborate with top-tier multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Opportunity to contribute to high-impact, mission-critical products
• Competitive hourly rate How to Apply Ready to advance your career as a key contributor in defense and aerospace innovation?

Submit your resume through our job portal and take the next step toward joining L3Harris's elite engineering team in Bristol, PA.