FPGA and DSP Team Lead (AU)

DroneShield is seeking an experienced FPGA & DSP Team Lead to lead the FPGA & DSP Engineering team in Sydney, Australia. Reporting to the Hardware Manager, Embedded Systems, this role combines technical leadership with hands-on engineering responsibilities. The primary focus is the development and advancement of RF Detection and Defeat products using Software-Defined Radios (SDRs), FPGAs, and advanced signal processing technologies. The role involves leading a team of engineers, assigning work, maintaining project plans, and contributing technically to the design and implementation of FPGA and DSP solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support a team of FPGA and DSP engineers developing electronic warfare products using Agile development methodologies and best-practice project management techniques
• Assign and prioritise work across the team, balancing technical trade-offs and business objectives
• Maintain project plans, resource forecasts, and workforce planning activities, including quarterly planning sessions
• Provide regular updates to management on team progress, risks, dependencies, and project status
• Collaborate with other engineering leaders to establish consistent processes, tools, and ways of working aligned with industry best practice
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, performance and development discussions, and support professional growth through training and development opportunities
• Design and implement RF solutions, FPGA applications, ARM-based embedded systems, digital signal processing algorithms, and machine learning implementations
• Research, design, and develop complex multi-FPGA architectures for high-bandwidth, low-latency embedded systems
• Design and implement embedded MPSoC platforms supporting real-time wide-bandwidth (>1 GHz) RF digital signal processing applications
• Enhance the performance, accuracy, reliability, maintainability, and scalability of DroneShield's core technologies
• Develop and improve automated verification and validation (V&V) frameworks that support Agile and CI/CD development practices
• Develop and maintain reliable automated build and deployment systems

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience
• Demonstrated experience working effectively within engineering teams and providing technical leadership
• Strong experience developing, debugging, and verifying FPGA designs using Verilog, VHDL, or SystemVerilog
• Experience with FPGA development environments such as Vivado (preferred), Quartus, Vitis, or equivalent tools.
• Experience designing high-throughput, low-latency, fully pipelined FPGA architectures
• Experience developing and implementing automated verification and validation frameworks
• Experience writing C/C++ firmware for FPGA-based systems, with proficiency in Python or other scripting languages preferred
• Experience working in Linux-based development environments
• Experience interpreting PCB schematics, performing board bring-up activities, and debugging hardware issues.
• Understanding of RF systems, RF transmission protocols, and related engineering principles
• Strong knowledge of digital signal processing concepts and implementation techniques
• Exposure to, or practical experience with, machine learning concepts and FPGA-based implementation