Hardware Design Engineer Level 2

WOOD Consulting Services - Laurel, MD

Full-time - Mid Level

Laurel, MD

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

The Hardware Design Engineer Level 2 position at WOOD Consulting Services, Inc. involves designing and testing new integrated circuits and hardware components for a diverse range of signal processing applications and research initiatives. The role requires the engineer to design, document, and develop code, including firmware, for digital signal processors and other programmable hardware devices such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). A significant aspect of the job includes analyzing existing integrated circuits and hardware components to facilitate reverse engineering of both hardware and firmware. The engineer will also conduct necessary hardware engineering functions to modify and adapt vendor-manufactured hardware to meet specific government needs and contingencies. In this role, the engineer will assist in designing new products and processes while also improving and maintaining existing products. Effective communication with other engineering personnel is essential to coordinate interrelated designs and ensure project completion. The engineer will perform design analysis on components and assemblies to ensure that designs are cost-efficient, manufacturable, and reliable. Additionally, the engineer will apply ASIC or FPGA place and route (P&R) tools with various libraries to create physical implementations of designs and develop and maintain documentation for the P&R design flows. The position also involves working with tool and library vendors to develop solutions for design challenges, integrating new P&R tools and updates into the government’s computer-aided design environment, and providing technical leadership to less experienced engineers. The engineer will lead the design of new products and processes while also performing de-processing of electronic components to retrieve stored firmware or software using approved reverse engineering procedures. This role requires a strong background in hardware design engineering, particularly in integrated circuit or microelectronic component design, and reverse engineering.

Responsibilities

• Assist with designing new products and processes and improving and maintaining existing products
• Communicate with other engineering personnel to coordinate the interrelated design and assure project completion
• Conduct design analysis on components and/or assemblies to assist in the development process by ensuring designs are cost efficient, able to be manufactured, and reliable
• Apply ASIC or FPGA place and route (P&R) tools with various libraries to create physical implementations of designs
• Develop and maintain documentation for the P&R design flows
• Assist with de-processing electronic components and retrieving stored firmware or software using approved reverse engineering procedures
• Work with tool and library vendors to develop solutions for designers' P&R design challenges
• Integrate new P&R tools, P&R tool updates, and ASIC or FPGA design libraries into Government's computer aided design environment
• Document the use of those tools and libraries
• Assist other physical designers to successfully complete their specific P&R design tasks
• Lead the designs of new products and processes and improve and maintain existing products
• Provide technical leadership to less experienced engineers

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering from an accredited college or university is required
• Five (5) years of additional hardware design engineering experience may be substituted for a bachelor's degree
• Seven (7) years experience as an HDE in integrated circuit or microelectronic component design or reverse engineering of the same is required
• Five (5) years experience in programming in VHDL and on Linux platforms
• Four (4) years experience in programming on Xilinx FPGAs (any combination of VIRTEX-II Pro, VIRTEX-4, VIRTEX-5, or VIRTEX-6)
• Four (4) years experience with Xilinx ISE, Synplify Pro, and Modeltech's Modelsim
• One (1) year experience in programming in one or more of the following scripting languages: PERL, sh, bash, csh, or python
• Three (3) years experience using LINUX for day-to-day activities