FPGA Engineer (Starshield)

SpaceX•Hawthorne, CA

About The Position

SpaceX’s Starshield program leverages SpaceX launch capability and Starlink technology to support national security efforts, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. The satellite engineering team supports scientific research, classified national security space, and commercial missions. The FPGA Engineer will join the satellite digital design team to design, develop, and test FPGAs for safety-critical logic, sensors, cryptography, and RF/optical communications systems used in SpaceX’s satellite constellation. The role involves working with other SpaceX engineers to understand mission needs and create highly reliable digital designs. The engineer owns the full lifecycle of their FPGA designs, including development, testing, verification, documentation, and support. Aerospace experience is not required. The role requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret security clearance as a condition of employment. Applicants must also meet applicable U.S. export-control eligibility requirements. The position may require extended hours and weekend work as needed.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, or another engineering discipline, or at least 2 years of professional software development experience in lieu of a degree.
Experience using Verilog, SystemVerilog, or VHDL.
Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance as a condition of employment.
Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
Must meet U.S. Government export-control requirements or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with complex digital designs.
Experience in different stages of FPGA development, including RTL design, verification, synthesis, timing analysis, and lab bring-up or validation.
Experience developing firmware for Xilinx SoC FPGA platforms and designing high-throughput PS/PL interfaces.
Experience with high-speed serial links, including GbE, PCI-E, or similar.
Experience with networking protocols and packet processing, including Ethernet 802.3, IPv4, UDP, and TCP.
Experience implementing DSP algorithms on FPGAs, including fixed-point analysis and verification.
Experience developing embedded software in C or C++, or significant experience in another software language.
Scripting skills in bash, Perl, or Python.
Familiarity with common electronic components and ability to read circuit design schematics and contribute to hardware design discussions.
Excellent leadership, communication, and teamwork skills.
Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret or Top Secret SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

Deliver highly reliable firmware for SpaceX-designed hardware.
Work with engineers across the department to develop new products from prototype through production and flight.
Take ownership of firmware products, including verification testing and documentation.
Follow the SpaceX flight software development process and write firmware for spaceflight.
Collaborate closely with avionics, software, and platform engineers to design and validate FPGA designs.
Design, develop, and test FPGAs for safety-critical logic, sensors, cryptography, and RF/optical communications systems.
Manage the complete lifecycle of FPGA designs, including development, testing, and support.

Benefits

Potential eligibility for long-term incentives in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards.
Potential discretionary bonuses.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan with the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount.
Comprehensive medical coverage.
Vision insurance.
Dental insurance.
401(k) retirement plan.
Short- and long-term disability insurance.
Life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Various discounts and perks.
Up to 3 weeks of accrued paid vacation.
10 or more paid holidays per year.
Paid sick leave under company policy.