Contract VHDL Firmware Engineer East Essex (4 days a week onsite) Up to £71 p/h Inside IR35 *Please only apply if you are willing and able to be onsite on average Four days a week* We are seeking a skilled FPGA Engineer to join a multi-disciplinary engineering team working on advanced precision and sensing systems. In this broad FPGA firmware engineering role, you will contribute across the full product lifecycle from initial concept development through to early production. You will work with modern high-speed FPGAs and System-on-Chip (SoC) technologies to help develop next-generation embedded systems. The role is based in Basildon and focuses on the design and development of embedded VHDL firmware for complex airborne electro-optics subsystems. What you will do Firmware requirements capture and management FPGA design and analysis Production of documentation for design reviews and engineering support Development of FPGA test and integration plans System integration with PCB designers and embedded software engineers Support firmware designs through a structured development process (training provided) Modification and maintenance of existing firmware designs and testbenches Key skills Experience with FPGA technologies (Xilinx, Microsemi/Actel, or Lattice) and associated toolchains Advanced verification techniques using VHDL or SystemVerilog/UVM Ability to define and manage timing and area constraints for FPGA implementation Experience translating system-level requirements into detailed firmware requirements Structured firmware development lifecycle experience (DO-254 or similar regulated processes) Experience debugging FPGA designs and supporting hardware/software integration Strong technical decision-making and risk mitigation skills in FPGA design Familiarity with Siemens EDA tools (HDL Designer, ModelSim/Questa) is advantageous Experience with electro-optic systems (Cameras, thermal imaging or image processing)