Senior Firmware Engineer II/Principal; FPGA
Listed on 2026-01-02
-
Engineering
Systems Engineer, Embedded Software Engineer
Senior Firmware Engineer II/Principal (FPGA)
Join to apply for the Senior Firmware Engineer II/Principal (FPGA) role at Rocket Lab
.
Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company delivering responsive launch services, complete spacecraft design and manufacturing, payloads, satellite components, and more – all with the goal of opening access to space. The rockets and satellites we build and launch enable some of the most ambitious and vital space missions globally, supporting scientific exploration, Earth observation and missions to combat climate change, national security, and exciting new technology demonstrations.
Our Electron rocket has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered more than 230 satellites to orbit, all while we work to develop Neutron, our upcoming medium‑lift, reusable launch vehicle for larger constellation deployment. Our Space Systems business designs and builds an extensive line of satellites, payloads, and their components, including spacecraft that have been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars and components used on the James Webb Space Telescope.
Firmware Engineer II/Principal - TS/SCI Clearance
Rocket Lab’s Optical Systems division solves mission‑critical space domain and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) challenges for Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) customers. Our vision is to revolutionize the space‑based payload market with innovative and novel designs for space, terrestrial, and airborne environments. Building on more than 20 years of electro‑optical and infrared systems innovation from Geost, Optical Systems delivers solutions to the warfighter for responsive, scalable sensing solutions across all orbital domains.
As a Senior Firmware Engineer II/Principal based at our Optical Systems sites in Tucson, AZ or Chantilly, VA, you will have the opportunity to support Tranche 3 of the U.S. Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) using the latest FPGA technologies including Xilinx to support advanced Electro‑Optical (EO/IR) technology. (
Please note:
this position can be hired at the Principal Firmware Engineer or Senior Firmware Engineer II level.)
- Work with the hardware design team on requirements.
- Complete FPGA logic design, coding, simulation, and testing.
- Support hardware and software development teams in bring‑up and test of products.
- Provide subject‑matter expertise regarding design and automated test development procedures to customers and production support team.
- Perform research and analysis of data such as customer proposed specifications, datasheets, or manuals to determine design approach and/or feasibility.
- Execute debugging of the design in the lab.
- Perform synthesis, implementation, and timing analysis.
- Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering or electrical engineering or equivalent discipline with 8‑12 years of experience.
- Experience in digital firmware design.
- Active TS/SCI security clearance.
- Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering or electrical engineering or equivalent discipline with 12+ years of experience.
- Experience in digital firmware design.
- Active TS/SCI security clearance.
- Ability to obtain and maintain the necessary level of US Government security clearance per customer requirements.
- Experience with FPGAs and embedded systems in a radiation environment, including SEU/SEL impact and mitigation.
- Experience in both creating IP from scratch in RTL, and integrating existing IP into RTL and block designs.
- Familiarity with C, Python or MATLAB and/or experience translating algorithms from a scripted language to HDL.
- Experience with software interfaces including interrupts and DMA.
- Experience in project management, team leadership, and/or mentoring.
- Experience with systems engineering methods including systems trades, requirements management, performance characterization, and interface management.
- Experience with DDR4,…
(If this job is in fact in your jurisdiction, then you may be using a Proxy or VPN to access this site, and to progress further, you should change your connectivity to another mobile device or PC).