Senior FPGA Engineer

Inversion•Los Angeles, CA

8d•$137,000 - $221,000•Onsite

About The Position

Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space. Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain. We see space not as a destination, but as a platform — one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach. Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision. These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds. Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications. Backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, and working with partners such as the U.S. Space Force and NASA, Inversion is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in space-based defense and logistics.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
Typically 5+ years of professional experience in FPGA design and development for high-speed digital, communications, or signal processing systems.
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance up to Top Secret.
Strong experience with VHDL, Verilog, and/or SystemVerilog.
Familiarity with Xilinx, AMD, Intel/Altera, or equivalent FPGA toolchains and development environments.
Experience developing FPGA-based architectures for high-speed, real-time signal processing systems.
Experience with digital communications and common interface protocols.
Strong understanding of high-speed digital interfaces such as JESD204, PCIe, Ethernet, SPI, UART, and related protocols.
Experience with simulation, synthesis, timing analysis, timing closure, resource optimization, and hardware debugging.
Familiarity with MATLAB/Simulink, Python, C, or C++ for algorithm handoff, modeling, verification, or automation.
Understanding of hardware/software integration and board bring-up.
Hands-on experience with lab equipment such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and spectrum analyzers.
Ability to communicate technical architecture and design tradeoffs clearly across multidisciplinary teams.

Nice To Haves

Experience with RF, telemetry, SDR, or communications systems.
Experience implementing digital downconversion/upconversion, filtering, channelization, packetization, synchronization, or other DSP functions in FPGA fabric.
Familiarity with processor/FPGA co-design and embedded Linux or bare-metal control interfaces.
Experience with high-speed ADC/DAC interfaces and board-level integration in mixed-signal systems.
Familiarity with verification methodologies, constrained-random simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, or automated regression infrastructure.
Experience supporting qualification, environmental test, and deployment of hardware in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability applications.
Experience in startup environments or small, highly collaborative engineering teams.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and verify FPGA-based processing architectures for RF, DSP, telemetry, and real-time embedded applications.
Translate signal processing, communications, and control algorithms into efficient FPGA implementations.
Develop interfaces between FPGAs, ADCs/DACs, processors, RF front ends, memories, and other digital subsystems.
Own FPGA development flow including architecture definition, RTL design, simulation, synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, and hardware validation.
Optimize FPGA designs for latency, throughput, resource utilization, power, and reliability.
Develop reusable IP, testbenches, and verification infrastructure to support current and future platform development.
Support board bring-up, integration, debug, and troubleshooting in laboratory and field test environments.
Partner closely with DSP, RF, software, embedded, and electrical engineers to ensure end-to-end system performance.
Support hardware/software co-design and system-level integration across flight and ground systems.
Document architecture, design decisions, verification results, and integration procedures.