Principal FPGA Design Engineer

Terran Orbital • Irvine, CA

1d

About The Position

Terran Orbital is seeking an experienced Principal FPGA Design Engineer to lead the architecture, development, verification, and flight-readiness of FPGA-based avionics subsystems. Reporting to the Embedded Software & FPGA Manager, this role owns FPGA RTL design from concept through qualification, integration, and mission operations. The engineer collaborates across avionics, embedded software, systems, and hardware teams to deliver high-reliability, flight-critical digital logic.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent.
• 12+ years of FPGA RTL architecture, development, and verification experience.
• Strong proficiency in SystemVerilog or VHDL.
• Experience with advanced verification methodologies and worst-case timing analysis.
• Experience designing with Microsemi PolarFire, AMD Zynq Versal, and AMD UltraScale.
• Experience with FPGA design tools, including Vivado and Mentor ModelSim/QuestaSim.
• Experience with high-speed data buses and interfaces such as AXI, PCIe, DDR4/DDR5, JESD204B/C, or 100Gb Ethernet, and protocols such as SPI, I2C, UART, CAN FD, and LVDS.
• Experience developing high-speed NAND flash controllers, including interface timing optimization, ECC integration, bad block management, DMA architecture, and high-throughput data path design.
• Familiarity with Git-based collaborative version control environments.
• Experience with scripting languages such as Python, Tcl, and Bash.
• Experience developing software in a Linux environment with C/C++.
• Experience designing for the space environment, including radiation impacts and mitigations.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Own FPGA RTL development from architecture definition through verification, integration, and flight readiness.
• Define FPGA architecture and requirements in collaboration with systems, hardware, and embedded software teams.
• Develop RTL in SystemVerilog or VHDL for Microchip PolarFire, AMD Zynq US+, and Versal.
• Perform verification, including simulation, test benches, timing closure, resource analysis, and hardware validation.
• Lead design reviews, ensure requirement traceability, and produce documentation for FPGA operation and integration.
• Define and execute verification and validation testing (DVT), and support board bring-up.
• Support system bring-up, integration, and troubleshooting during avionics and flight test activities.
• Lead cross-functional technical discussions, drive architecture decisions, and mentor more junior engineers.

Benefits

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for the employee and dependents
• 401(k) match
• Flexible Time Off (FTO)
• Covered life insurance
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Tuition or education reimbursement
• Employee referral program
• Company swag

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal