FPGA Design Engineer

Job Description

Cosworth is seeking an enthusiastic and highly motivated FPGA Design Engineer to join our engineering team, developing high-performance data and control systems for demanding motorsport applications.

Job Description

Cosworth is seeking an enthusiastic and highly motivated FPGA Design Engineer to join our engineering team, developing high-performance data and control systems for demanding motorsport applications.

The Role

• Define FPGA requirements and architectures for new and existing motorsport electronics products.
• Develop, review and maintain synthesizable VHDL RTL for control, timing, data acquisition, communications, signal-processing and diagnostic functions.
• Create verification plans, self-checking testbenches and simulation environments; demonstrate requirements coverage and support system-level validation.
• Perform synthesis; develop I/O and timing constraints; and complete timing closure, clock-domain crossing analysis and resource-utilisation reviews.
• Integrate FPGA logic with processors, memories and peripherals using appropriate memory-mapped, serial and high-speed interfaces.
• Support board bring-up and laboratory testing using tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analysers and JTAG; diagnose issues across FPGA, hardware and embedded software boundaries.
• Produce clear requirements, design descriptions, verification evidence, release records and support documentation throughout the product lifecycle.
• Use configuration management and version-control workflows effectively, contributing to peer reviews and continuous improvement of FPGA development practices.
• Estimate work, communicate progress, technical risks and trade-offs, and support programme delivery against agreed milestones.
• Represent Cosworth in technical discussions with customers, suppliers and development partners where required.
• Consider the health and safety, environmental and energy impact of all activities.
• Support the Company’s compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 by following company policy and best practice.

Essential

Candidate Profile

• A degree or equivalent qualification in electronic engineering, control systems engineering or a related discipline. Applicants without formal qualifications who can demonstrate suitable experience will also be considered.
• Proven FPGA development experience covering requirements, architecture, detailed RTL design, verification, integration and release.
• Strong VHDL skills and practical experience with Intel Quartus Prime, including TimeQuest timing analysis, or an equivalent FPGA development toolchain.
• A clear understanding of high-quality FPGA design techniques, including synchronous design, clock and reset architecture, metastability and clock-domain crossing management, timing constraints, defensive design and peer review.
• Experience developing testbenches and using simulation to verify functional behaviour, corner cases and fault handling before hardware integration.
• Good knowledge of digital electronics and common embedded interfaces, with the ability to read schematics and collaborate effectively with hardware and software engineers.
• A disciplined approach to requirements, documentation, configuration control, verification evidence and quality engineering processes.
• The ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly, work effectively both independently and within cross-disciplinary teams, and deliver to agreed timescales.

Desirable

• Experience with Intel (Altera) Cyclone and MAX devices, including Cyclone V SoC/HPS integration, Avalon or AXI interfaces and memory-mapped peripherals.
• Experience with real-time digital signal processing, deterministic timing, sensor acquisition, actuator control or safety-related state-machine design.
• Knowledge of communication interfaces such as CAN/CAN FD, Ethernet, LVDS, SPI, I2C, UART and high-speed serial links.
• Experience of inter-FPGA communications, processor-to-FPGA integration, external memory interfaces and robust clock/reset-domain management.
• Experience debugging and developing embedded C software for microcontrollers or SoC processor subsystems.
• Practical experience of design-for-test, boundary scan, JTAG and structured board bring-up or fault investigation.
• Experience developing vehicle-based systems in motorsport, automotive or another high-reliability, fast-paced engineering environment.
• Familiarity with FMEA, V-model development, and relevant quality, process or functional-safety frameworks such as ISO 9001, Automotive SPICE or ISO 26262.