Hardware/FPGA Engineer

Viasat, Inc.•Tempe, AZ

About The Position

As a Hardware Design Engineer, you will support the end-to-end development of advanced digital processing systems, high-speed digital boards, and FPGA-based subsystems for space-based and mission-critical communication platforms. You will serve as a key technical contributor, bridging the hardware-firmware boundary by owning the hardware lifecycle of complex board designs—including high-speed digital schematic capture, SoC integration, and mixed-signal circuit design with high-resolution ADC/DAC interfaces—while simultaneously designing, simulating, and implementing high-speed signal-processing algorithms and network protocols in FPGAs. Your responsibility will span the entire product development lifecycle from early conceptual requirements, block diagrams, and synthesizable RTL development (SystemVerilog/VHDL), through hardware-firmware co-design, board-level bring-up, and laboratory integration, all the way to worst-case analysis (WCA), power/signal integrity verification, and flight qualification in a rigorous space and flight environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
4+ years of combined experience in high-speed digital board design and FPGA/RTL development.
Proficiency in writing synthesizable RTL in SystemVerilog, Verilog, or VHDL.
Hands-on experience with FPGA design suites and EDA tools (e.g., AMD/Xilinx Vivado, Intel/Altera Quartus, Synopsys Synplify).
Hands-on experience with schematic capture tools (e.g., Mentor Xpedition, Cadence, or Altium).
Strong laboratory debugging skills integrating firmware onto physical target boards.
US citizenship.
Ability to travel up to 10%.

Nice To Haves

Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE).
Experience with space-grade FPGAs (Xilinx Radiation Tolerant, Microchip RTG4, or equivalent).
Experience with FPGA simulation and testbench development (ModelSim, Questa, etc.).
Familiarity with scripting languages (Python, TCL, or Perl) for automation.
Experience with EEE-INST-002, NASA, or ESA parts selection, screening, and derating guidelines.
Familiarity with radiation effects on electronics (TID, SEE, SEL).
Familiarity with Git, CI/CD practices, and AI development tools (Claude Code, Copilot).

Responsibilities

Design and implement high-speed digital boards, including schematic capture and layout guidelines.
Develop, simulate, and verify FPGA RTL (using SystemVerilog, Verilog, or VHDL) for control, data processing, and communication functions.
Integrate and deploy firmware onto FPGA and FPGA SoC platforms.
Design high-speed interfaces (DDR4, SERDES, UART, I2C, SPI, LVDS) and perform signal/power integrity simulations using HyperLynx.
Conduct worst-case analysis (WCA) to verify electrical design margins across space environment conditions.
Lead laboratory board bring-up, hardware/firmware integration, and debug using logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and spectrum analyzers.
Apply flight hardware and firmware design practices, working within radiation-tolerant, high-reliability component and thermal constraints.
Author and maintain comprehensive design documentation, including schematics, block diagrams, testbenches, and interface control documents.