Senior Firmware Engineer – Space- Electro-Optical Systems

$140,000 - $210,000 | Herndon, Virginia | Relocation Paid

This is firmware work on hardware that leaves the atmosphere. You'll architect and implement firmware for space-based electro-optical payloads and laser systems, working on lasers for atmospheric sensing, laser communications, and LIDAR sensors built for NASA, DoD, and commercial customers.

You'll own the full development lifecycle: requirements analysis, design, coding, simulation, verification, and validation. This isn't maintenance work on legacy platforms. You're building firmware for systems that have to work the first time, every time, in one of the most unforgiving environments there is.

You'll work in VHDL (RTL) and System Verilog on Xilinx, Microchip, and Lattice FPGAs, applying Hi-Rel and space-grade techniques like fault tolerance and radiation mitigation. The technical surface area is broad: digital signal processing, precision timing, optical comms, LIDAR, high-speed serial links (GTY/GTM, JESD
204B/C, Ethernet, Space Wire), and memory interfaces (DDR3/4, QDR, FRAM).

You'll be embedded in a cross-functional team of hardware, systems, software, and optical engineers, working from schematics and block diagrams, resolving interface issues directly with the people designing the hardware. Development runs on modern tooling, with Git Hub-based CI/CD covering code review, automated linting, synthesis, regression testing, timing closure, bitstream generation, and release tagging.

Expect a mix of architecture and hands-on lab work: writing and reviewing RTL, building test benches and simulations to verify designs against spec, and running hardware-in-the-loop testing and system-level validation with diagnostic tools. You'll work iterative, task-based development cycles with frequent integration points, so you're seeing your firmware meet real hardware often, not just at the end of a long cycle.

Peer code review and documentation are part of the regular rhythm, along with contributing to design reviews and risk identification.

Experience:

• 7+ years of relevant firmware engineering experience
• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or equivalent

Core technical expertise:

• Firmware development in VHDL (RTL) and System Verilog (testing)
• Digital signal processing, precision timing, optical comms (modems), LIDAR
• Xilinx, Microchip, and Lattice FPGAs and their development tool chains
• Test bench development and simulation for design verification
• Working directly from schematics and block diagrams during firmware design
• High-speed serial links: GTY/GTM, JESD
  204B/C, Ethernet, Space Wire
• Standard peripheral interfaces: SPI, I2C, UART, LVDS
• Memory interfaces: DDR3/4, QDR, FRAM
• Git Hub and CI/CD for FPGA flows, including linting, synthesis, regression testing, timing closure, and bitstream generation

Nice to have:

• Python for build/test automation and data analysis
• Linux, scripting, and Docker-based automation
• Hi-Rel/space program experience and TMR coding
• C/C++ for microcontrollers
• VS Code

Note:

This role requires no visa sponsorship.

The products themselves are the draw here: laser and electro-optic systems supporting NASA, DoD, and commercial space missions, not commodity electronics. The technical scope spans FPGA architecture through hardware-in-the-loop validation, giving you ownership across the full firmware lifecycle rather than a narrow slice of it. And the team structure puts you in direct contact with the hardware and optical engineers you're building for, so your design decisions carry real weight.

Relocation is paid for the right candidate.