FPGA Engineer, RTL

Job Title

FPGA Engineer, RTL

Role Summary

Work on FPGA/RTL for a flight-qualified optical communication system connecting orbital terminals to onboard computers and ground stations. You'll own HDL design, verification, and hardware bring-up for high-throughput, real-time data pipelines on active flight hardware.

Join a small, cross-functional team focused on near-term launch milestones; deliver production-quality RTL that will be integrated into on-orbit systems.

Experience Level

Mid-level — 5+ years of FPGA/HDL design experience (architecture, verification, synthesis, timing closure).

Responsibilities

Key duties include designing, verifying, and integrating FPGA logic for optical and high-speed data links and supporting hardware bring-up and on-orbit operation.

• Design and verify SystemVerilog/Verilog RTL for FPGA subsystems from architecture through deployment.
• Implement FPGA logic for free-space optical communication interfaces: modem interfacing, framing/synchronization, and data pipelines.
• Develop multi-gigabit data pipelines and high-speed Ethernet MAC/PCS logic, SERDES/transceiver configuration, and link-layer framing.
• Build memory-mapped register interfaces (AXI) and define HW/SW contracts with flight software engineers.
• Perform synthesis, timing closure, and implementation on Zynq UltraScale+/Versal platforms using Vivado and related toolchains.
• Develop testbenches and simulation environments; validate designs on bench using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and protocol analyzers.
• Lead board bring-up and hardware integration; investigate cross-domain anomalies and drive fixes across hardware/firmware/software.
• Document designs and share ownership across the team.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience required to perform the role.

• 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, DDR/DMA datapaths, and multi-gigabit pipelines.
• Experience integrating FPGA logic with embedded software (memory-mapped registers, driver-level debugging).
• Hardware bring-up and lab debugging experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and embedded debug tools.
• Demonstrated ability to take open-ended problems from architecture through hardware and on-orbit operation.
• Experience with timing closure, synthesis, and implementation on target FPGA platforms.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with free-space or fiber optical communication systems, Ethernet MAC/PCS in fabric, or optical modem integration.
• Familiarity with Versal ACAP, Quartus toolflows, simulation tools (Questa/ModelSim, Xcelium, Verilator), and UVM.
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python, and TCL for bring-up, test automation, and tooling.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing, automated regression, and radiation-mitigation techniques for space applications.

Education Requirements

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

About the Company

Company: Lumilens

Headquarters: San Jose, CA, USA

Lumilens develops integrated photonics and optical interconnect solutions for high-speed data communication and chip-to-chip interfaces, focusing on optical front-end hardware and co-packaged optics for advanced semiconductor systems.