FPGA Engineer

Job Title

FPGA Engineer

Role Summary

Design and own FPGA/RTL for a flight-capable optical communication system. Work on HDL for optical-link interfaces and high-speed data pipelines that connect orbital payloads to onboard compute and ground systems.

This is active development on a live flight program with near-term launch milestones; you'll join a small team, take ownership of workstreams, and support designs through hardware integration and on-orbit operation.

Experience Level

Mid-level (expects 5+ years of relevant FPGA/HDL experience).

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include architecture, implementation, verification, and hardware integration of FPGA subsystems for optical communications.

• Design, implement, and verify SystemVerilog/Verilog RTL for FPGA subsystems from architecture through on-orbit operation.
• Partner with optical communication engineers to implement modem interfacing, framing/synchronization, and link-layer logic.
• Develop high-throughput data pipelines and integrate high-speed Ethernet MAC/PCS logic, SERDES/transceiver configuration, and link-layer framing.
• Implement memory-mapped register interfaces (AXI) and define HW/SW contracts with flight software.
• Perform synthesis, timing closure, and implementation on Xilinx/AMD targets (Zynq UltraScale+, Versal) using Vivado and related toolchains.
• Develop testbenches and simulation environments; validate designs on bench hardware with scopes, logic analyzers, and protocol analyzers.
• Lead board bring-up and hardware integration for payload avionics and troubleshoot cross-domain anomalies.
• Document designs and interfaces; mentor and pair with teammates to distribute ownership.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience.

• 5+ years of FPGA/HDL design experience, including architecture, verification, synthesis, and timing closure.
• Proficiency in SystemVerilog or Verilog for production FPGA development.
• Hands-on experience with Xilinx/AMD FPGA platforms (e.g., Zynq, Zynq UltraScale+) and Vivado/Vitis toolchains.
• Experience designing high-speed digital interfaces and DDR/DMA-based datapaths.
• Experience integrating FPGA logic with embedded software, including memory-mapped register interfaces and driver-level debugging.
• Experience building multi-gigabit data pipelines and integrating stabilization/FEC techniques; optical communication or high-speed Ethernet experience strongly preferred.
• Hands-on hardware bring-up and lab debugging with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and embedded debug tools.
• Proven ability to own open-ended design problems from architecture through hardware and operation.
• ITAR/export-control requirement: applicants must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, protected individuals per 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability development.
• Experience with free-space or fiber optical communication systems and coherent/direct-detection modems.
• Familiarity with Versal ACAP or Quartus toolflows.
• Experience with simulation/verification tools (Questa/ModelSim/Xcelium/Verilator) and UVM or structured verification methodologies.
• Proficiency with C/C++, Python, and TCL for bring-up, test automation, and tooling.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing, automated regression, fault-tolerant design, and radiation-effects mitigation techniques.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field is required. A master's degree in a related discipline is preferred.

About the Company

Company: Cowboy Space

Headquarters: San Carlos, CA, United States

Cowboy Space builds infrastructure for the orbital economy, deploying LEO satellites to collect sunlight and enable power transmission via infrared lasers and high-bandwidth optical data links, supporting on-orbit compute and space-to-earth/space-to-space communications. Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt, the company develops optical communication systems and satellite power/data infrastructure for commercial and space applications.