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.

The successful applicant will take ownership of FPGA development across our motorsport product range with a primary focus on the Antares powertrain controller, from requirements and architecture through RTL implementation, verification, integration, release and in-service support.

You will work closely with hardware, embedded software, systems, project management, quality and manufacturing teams, as well as customers and external partners, to create reliable and pioneering electronics solutions.

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.

Candidate Profile:

Essential

• 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.