Firmware engineering at Leonardo is mission critical. The products we develop are built around some of the world’s most advanced – and most highly classified – systems and technologies, designed to protect fast jet, UAV, land and naval platforms, as well as the next-generation Global Combat Air System Programme (GCAP). Our work is complex, challenging and demands quality and high performance from the design, development and testing of custom hardware using FPGAs.
Helping people, families and nations to keep safe and secure in the face of ever-changing threats, requires the best minds in engineering. People whose talent, passion and expertise earns the trust of colleagues, customers and communities. Leonardo is a place where colleagues show up for each other every day and have the opportunity to build extraordinary careers.
We’re hiring FPGA Engineers at all levels from graduates to principal and lead engineers, across the UK.
Careers
Find your ideal FPGA Engineering role
Learn more about Leonardo's Basildon site which is home to around 500 people who are involved in the design and development of thermal imaging systems, radar systems, radio communications, infared detection, signal processing and network systems.
Learn more about Leonardo's Luton site which is home to 1,200 people who are involved in the design and development of the company’s electronic warfare capability, which has been helping protect airborne platforms from a range of RF-based threats.
Learn more about Leonardo's Newcastle site which is a high-technology science and engineering facility, located in the Newcastle Helix innovation cluster. It focuses on research, development and prototyping of Leonardo’s next generation sensing, security and vertical lift products.
Learn more about Leonardo's Southampton site which is home to around 400 people who hosts some of the company’s communications, optronics and air traffic control products, along with several key airborne and marine technologies.
Test your FPGA Knoweldge
Award-winning benefits designed for you
What our FPGA team are saying
Frequently Asked Questions
An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a reconfigurable hardware device programmed using HDL code to perform high-speed digital processing. Unlike standard processors, FPGAs enable parallel, deterministic performance.
In defence and aerospace, FPGA engineering supports radar systems, electronic warfare, secure communications and real-time signal processing, where reliability and low latency are critical.
An FPGA engineer designs and verifies digital hardware using VHDL or Verilog. Responsibilities include writing HDL code, simulation, hardware integration, lab testing and cross-team collaboration.
FPGA engineers play a key role in delivering high-performance embedded and defence systems.
Leonardo typically looks for an 80% skills match for FPGA engineering roles, focusing on strong fundamentals rather than a perfect checklist.
Core FPGA skills include digital design, VHDL/Verilog coding, simulation, timing analysis, and hardware debugging. Experience with Vivado or Quartus toolchains is highly valued.
Strong problem‑solving and systems thinking are essential for success in FPGA careers.
Leonardo invests in the latest Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) to support FPGA Development to try and create the best user experience for our developers.
We have a UK wide FPGA community to promote best practice and provide a wide reaching and diverse support network in LED UK.
Continuous learning supports long-term career progression.
FPGA engineers can progress into Senior Engineer, FPGA Architect or Technical Lead roles. Opportunities also exist to move into cross-disciplinary or advanced research programmes while building deep technical capability.
The Leonardo Graduate Scheme provides structured development for early-career engineers entering FPGA and firmware roles. Graduates typically receive:
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Technical training and mentoring
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Exposure to live projects
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Opportunities to rotate across teams or programmes
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Support in building both technical and professional skills
The scheme is designed to accelerate development while providing real project responsibility early in your career.