Principal Digital Electronics Engineer

Principal Digital Electronics Engineer

12 months

84.55 per hour (inside IR35)

Hybrid working (Portsmouth)

About the Opportunity

We are seeking a Principal Digital Electronics Engineer to help deliver advanced electronic solutions across some of the most complex and high-profile defence and security programmes in the UK.

This is a technical leadership role where you will shape digital hardware architectures, influence system-level design decisions, and mentor engineers across the full product lifecycle - from concept through to production and in-service support.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead the architecture, design and development of complex digital electronic systems

• Define and review FPGA, SoC, and high-speed digital designs

• Oversee requirements capture, design documentation, and verification strategies

• Provide technical authority and governance across multiple projects

• Support system integration, validation, and qualification activities

• Collaborate with systems, software, firmware, mechanical and safety teams

• Engage with customers and suppliers at a technical level

• Mentor and develop senior and junior engineers

• Drive continuous improvement in engineering processes and standards

Your Skills & Experience

Essential:

• Extensive experience in digital electronics design

• Strong background in FPGA/ASIC development (VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog)

• Experience with high-speed interfaces (e.g., PCIe, Ethernet, DDR, SERDES)

• Proven ability to lead technical teams or large work packages

• Experience with requirements management and verification methodologies

• Understanding of signal integrity, timing analysis, and hardware debugging

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Electronic Engineering or related discipline

Desirable:

• Experience in safety-critical or regulated industries

• Knowledge of secure or resilient system design

• Familiarity with DOORS, MATLAB, or similar tools

• Chartered Engineer status (or working towards)