Senior FPGA Engineer

Job Title

Senior FPGA Engineer

Role Summary

Design, verify, and test RTL for FPGAs used in spacecraft and ground systems. Work cross-functionally with DSP, firmware, software, and hardware teams to meet performance, reliability, and safety requirements for commercial and U.S. government satellite communications projects.

Experience Level

Senior - typically 5+ years of relevant FPGA/RTL engineering experience.

Responsibilities

Core responsibilities include architecture, RTL design, verification, integration, and support of FPGA-based systems.

• Architect, design, and verify RTL for high-performance systems (software-defined radios, avionics, ground systems).
• Develop testbenches and perform module- and system-level FPGA verification.
• Integrate FPGAs with high-speed data converters, memories, and microcontrollers; manage multiple FPGA toolchains.
• Design, implement, and validate radiation-mitigation schemes (e.g., TMR, ECC) and address power/thermal/area tradeoffs.
• Collaborate closely with DSP, firmware, and software teams on algorithm and system integration.
• Support hardware bring-up, debugging, and validation; participate in hiring and mentoring teammates.

Requirements

Essential skills, experience, and eligibility criteria.

• 5+ years of experience in FPGA/RTL development for high-throughput systems.
• Strong proficiency in Verilog/SystemVerilog for synthesis and verification.
• Experience writing testbenches and performing FPGA verification at module and top/system levels.
• Experience with C/C++ bit-accurate modeling of RTL modules.
• Familiarity with system-level tradeoffs including power, thermal, and FPGA real estate.
• Hands-on hardware development and circuit-level debugging experience preferred.
• Eligibility: U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or asylee/refugee (required for export-controlled work).

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with Xilinx Ultrascale/Ultrascale+/Versal, Vivado and TCL.
• Experience with high-speed ADCs/DACs and JESD204, UVM/DPI simulation methodologies.
• Expertise in DSP/radio design, encryption, FEC (LDPC, Turbo, Reed-Solomon), DVB-S2X, FIR/IIR filtering, and I/Q signaling.
• Experience with space-based systems and radiation-tolerant design techniques.

Education Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent required. MS or PhD in computer engineering or a related field preferred. Equivalent practical experience is accepted.

About the Company

Company: Astranis

Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, USA

Astranis designs, builds, and operates small geostationary satellites and satellite communications networks, providing secure, customizable connectivity to commercial, government, and military customers. The company handles end-to-end satellite development, manufacturing, and operations and has raised substantial venture funding to support launches and commercial deployments.