Digital/FPGA Engineer Lead - Space

Viasat, Inc. • Tempe, AZ

4d

About The Position

As a Senior Digital / FPGA Engineer Lead on the Space Infrastructure team, you will design, implement, and deliver FPGA‑based digital systems that support advanced satellite payloads, sensors, and communication systems. You will own designs from early architecture and trade studies through implementation, integration, and test, working closely with RF, software, hardware, and systems engineers.
This role focuses on building high‑reliability, production‑ready digital designs that operate in demanding environments and integrate tightly with custom hardware. You will work with highly-motivated engineers in an exciting, dynamic, yet informal environment. You will be able to use your engineering experience to support the next generation of advanced communications products and systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent professional experience
• 8+ years of professional experience designing and delivering digital or FPGA‑based systems
• Strong experience with Verilog, SystemVerilog, or VHDL
• Experience across multiple stages of FPGA development: architecture, RTL design, integration, and lab validation
• Experienced in the use of lab equipment including logic analyzers, DMM, spectrum analyzers
• Ability to read schematics and work closely with hardware design teams
• Hands‑on experience debugging complex digital systems
• Strong communication skills and comfort working in cross‑functional engineering teams
• US citizenship
• Ability to travel up to 10%

Nice To Haves

• Experience with space hardware design
• Hi-Rel FPGA experience using Xilinx and Actel RTAX/RTSX/Prosaic
• Experience with serial interface design
• Experience with signal processing, high‑speed data paths, or communication systems
• Experience using Xilinx/Altera design tools including Vivado, Synplicity, Modelsim, DxDesigner
• Familiarity with CI/CD practices
• Familiarity with AI Toolkits and Platforms (e.g. Copilot, Claude, Cursor, etc.)
• Familiarity with configuration management tools and services like Git, Perforce, GitHub, Jira, Jama, Artifactory, etc.
• Strong troubleshooting skills

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture, design, and implementation of FPGA‑based digital systems
• Develop RTL in Verilog, SystemVerilog, or VHDL for control, data processing, and communication functions
• Integrate and deploy designs on FPGA and FPGA‑SoC platforms
• Collaborate with RF, DSP, software, and hardware engineers to define and validate end‑to‑end system behavior
• Support bring‑up, integration, and debug in the lab using logic analyzers, scopes, and other instrumentation
• Perform functional verification, timing closure, and performance analysis
• Participate in system‑level trade studies and design reviews
• Create clear documentation and support test, validation, and production efforts
• Contribute to improving FPGA design standards, workflows, and development practices

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees