Senior Digital Design Engineer

About the Team – Mission Solutions – The Platforms

Mission Solutions builds on Umbra’s expertise in remote sensing and spacecraft operations to engineer platforms purpose-built for U.S. and allied defense and intelligence missions. Whether it’s a custom payload, a full-stack spacecraft, or the infrastructure behind an entire constellation, our team delivers secure, resilient systems tailored to exacting requirements and built on timelines that match the urgency of the mission.

We are seeking a Senior Digital Design Engineer to develop HDL based digital designs to support Umbra’s Mission Solutions business unit. This position will collaborate with the software and electrical engineering teams to develop, analyze, manufacture, and test microwave subsystems. This is a unique opportunity to design and implement innovative solutions to support a variety of Mission Solutions customer mission sets.

Our ideal candidate is a solution-driven problem solver, an exceptional communicator, and possesses a strong systems‑thinking mindset to drive innovation in spacecraft development.

• Develop FPGA-based digital designs for radar, electronic warfare, and communications.
• Work with electrical and systems engineers to integrate Xilinx SoC based hardware with high-speed data converters and associated microwave transmitter and receiver chains.
• Continuously collaborate with the payload engineering team to address mechanical, thermal and power subsystems and interfaces.
• Rapidly develop prototypes and iteratively improve hardware and firmware.
• Prepare engineering documentation, reports, and test plans.
• Perform other professional duties as assigned.

• Bachelor’s of Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering or equivalent.
• Knowledge of foundational electrical engineering, computer architecture and digital design concepts.
• 5‑8+ years of proven, relevant experience in digital design with FPGA and SoC devices.
• Development experience with Xilinx devices and design suite, such as Vivado, SDK and Vitis.
• Expertise in VHDL and/or Verilog.
• Experience developing MCU and SoC software in Rust or C/C++.
• Working knowledge of modern FPGA architectures and external interfaces, including high speed converters, DDR RAM, and Solid‑State NAND and NOR based storage.
• Familiarity with standard physical layers for digital communication (UART, SPI, LVDS).
• Comfortable working in a dynamic and fast‑paced development environment.

• Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering or equivalent.
• 10+ years of proven, relevant experience in digital design with FPGA and SoC devices.
• Experience with high-speed data transfer and bandwidth management.
• Knowledge of digital communication systems and modulations (QPSK, 8‑PSK).
• Experience developing FPGA based hardware for spacecraft systems.
• Experience with parallelizing DSP algorithms.
• Knowledge of Python and System Verilog.
• Experience with interfacing with vendors and customers as the technical representative.

• Flexible Time Off, Sick, Family & Medical Leave
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, LTD, STD (employer funded)
• Vol Life, Critical Illness, Accidental, Hospital Indemnity, Pet Insurance (employee funded)
• 401k with 3% non-elective company contribution
• Stock Options
• Free parking
• Free lunch in office daily

Umbra is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

In compliance with federal laws, all hired persons will be required to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the United States by completing the required Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 Form) upon hire.

This position may include access to technology and/or data that is subject to U.S. export controls pursuant to ITAR and EAR. To comply with federal export controls, all persons hired must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. lawful permanent resident,…