About this role
About Us <p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionizing the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop and manufacture high performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost effective. This provides our operators with a decisive edge in highly contested environments.</span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">We’re focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems - not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe - today.</span></p> Your mission <p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">As a Junior FPGA Engineer, you will join our specialized hardware team to develop the high-speed digital logic that powers our autonomous platforms. You will be responsible for designing, implementing, and testing FPGA-based solutions that process complex signals in real-time.</span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">This role is ideal for a high-potential engineer who wants to move beyond simulation and see their code interact with the physical world. You will work closely with senior mentors to bridge the gap between digital signal processing theory and hardware realisation.</span></p> Responsibilities <p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">We are looking for candidates with experience in some or all of the following areas:</span></p><ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">RTL Design: Develop and maintain high-speed digital logic using VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Verification: Create testbenches and run functional simulations to validate design behavior.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Hardware Debugging: Use lab equipment (Oscilloscopes, Logic Analyzers) and on-chip debugging tools (ILA/Signal Tap) to troubleshoot physical hardware.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Integration: Collaborate with Electronics and Software teams to define FPGA pinouts, review schematics, and develop interface APIs.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">IP Management: Integrate and configure third-party IP cores and interface with high-speed ADCs/DACs.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Documentation: Maintain clear design specifications, register maps, and version-controlled HDL repositories.</span></p></li></ul> Qualifications <ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Proficiency in VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Experience with FPGA vendor tools (e.g., Xilinx Vivado or Intel Quartus).</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Understanding of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) fundamentals.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Basic experience with simulation tools (e.g., ModelSim, Questa).</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Familiarity with common hardware interfaces (AXI, SPI, I2C, UART).</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Competency in Python or C/C++ for scripting and testing support.</span></p></li></ul><h2 style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:4pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Soft Skills</span></h2><ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Curiosity-Driven: You have a deep desire to understand how things work at the register level.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Resilient: You enjoy the "puzzle" of hardware debugging and timing closure.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Effective Communicator: You can explain your logic design clearly to both software and hardware teams.</span></p></li></ul><h2 style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:4pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Qualifications</span></h2><ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical, Electronic, or Computer Engineering.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">0-2 years of experience (relevant internships or personal hardware projects are highly valued).</span></p></li></ul><h2 style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:4pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Nice to Have</span></h2><ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Knowledge of System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures (e.g., Zynq).</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Familiarity with Linux-based development environments.</span></p></li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;">Interest in software-defined radio (SDR) architectures.</span></p></li></ul>