Firmware Engineer

ICEYE US; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 145,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Flexible PTO

Friendly work environment

Extra perks

Job summary

ICEYE US is seeking a Firmware Engineer to design, develop, and verify firmware for radar and SAR payload electronics. You will own FPGA architecture for signal generation, DSP, and hardware-software interfaces within the payload chain, collaborating with RF, systems, and embedded software engineers to deliver flight-ready firmware.

This role emphasizes RTL development (VHDL/Verilog) on Xilinx RFSoC/UltraScale+ platforms, HDL verification, timing closure, and integration with ARM-based SoCs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field; Master's preferred.
• 5-8 years FPGA firmware design in VHDL/Verilog.
• 3+ years Xilinx AMD tool experience (Vivado, Vitis, Vivado HLS).
• 3-5 years DSP implementation in FPGA fabric (filters, FFTs, DDC, waveform generation).
• 3-5 years firmware for SoC architectures with PS-PL on Zynq or Zynq UltraScale+.
• Working knowledge of high-speed serial interfaces and standard bus protocols.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and verify FPGA firmware for radar signal generation, digital beamforming, and SAR data processing pipelines.
• Develop and maintain RTL (VHDL/Verilog) targeting Xilinx RFSoC and UltraScale+ platforms.
• Architect a modular FPGA framework supporting multiple product configurations and reducing NRE for future payload variants.
• Integrate FPGA firmware with embedded software (Linux/bare-metal) on ARM cores in SoC.
• Define high-speed digital interfaces between FPGA fabric and RF/analog front-end hardware.
• Perform timing closure, resource optimization, and power analysis for flight-grade FPGA builds.
• Develop FPGA verification strategies including simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and integration with test environments.
• Collaborate with RF and systems engineers to translate radar requirements into FPGA design specs.
• Support AIT with firmware builds, diagnostic modes, and debugging during payload integration.
• Create and maintain configuration-managed firmware baselines, release docs, and design descriptions.
• Participate in design reviews, trade studies, and risk assessments related to FPGA and digital subsystems.

Skills

FPGA firmware

VHDL/Verilog

Xilinx (AMD) tools

DSP in FPGA

SoC PS-PL integration

ARM cores on SoC

High-speed serial interfaces

RF/analog interfaces

Education

Bachelor's in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Master's preferred

Tools

Vivado

Vitis

Vivado HLS

Job description

Firmware Engineer

At ICEYE, we design, build and operate the largest fleet of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites in the world. Using advanced technology, our constellation collects topographical data about any location on Earth, day or night, through any weather conditions.

Headquartered in Southern California, our customers are society’s heroes – intelligence professionals, warfighters, first responders, and scientific researchers. As a trusted mission partner, the United States and its allies depend on us for critical information when it matters most.

Role Description

The Firmware Engineer will be a core member of the Space Systems engineering team, responsible for designing, developing, and verifying firmware for radar and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload electronics. This role directly supports product iterations by owning the FPGA architecture for signal generation, digital signal processing, and hardware-software interfaces within the payload avionics chain. The engineer will work closely with RF, systems, embedded software, and AIT engineers to deliver flight-quality firmware.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and verify FPGA firmware for radar signal generation, digital beamforming, and SAR data processing pipelines
• Develop and maintain RTL (VHDL/Verilog) targeting Xilinx RFSoC and UltraScale+ platforms
• Architect a modular, reusable FPGA framework that supports multiple product configurations and minimizes NRE for future payload variants
• Integrate FPGA firmware with embedded software (Linux/bare-metal) running on SoC processing systems (ARM cores)
• Define and implement high‑speed digital interfaces between FPGA fabric and RF/analog front‑end hardware.
• Perform timing closure, resource optimization, and power analysis for flight‑grade FPGA builds
• Develop and execute FPGA verification strategies including simulation, hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing, and integration with flat‑sat and EGSE test environments
• Collaborate with RF and systems engineers to translate radar waveform and signal processing requirements into FPGA design specifications
• Support AIT activities by providing firmware builds, diagnostic modes, and debug support during payload integration and test campaigns
• Create and maintain configuration‑managed firmware baselines, release documentation, and design descriptions aligned with gated review processes (PDR/CDR/TRR)
• Participate in design reviews, trade studies, and technical risk assessments related to FPGA and digital subsystem architecture

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field (Master's preferred)
• 5-8 years of professional experience designing FPGA firmware in VHDL and/or Verilog
• 3+ years of experience with Xilinx (AMD) development tools (Vivado, Vitis, Vivado HLS)
• At least 3-5 years demonstrated experience with digital signal processing implementation in FPGA fabric (filtering, FFTs, digital down‑conversion, waveform generation)
• 3-5 years hands‑on experience developing firmware for System‑on‑Chip (SoC) architectures, including PS‑PL integration on Zynq or Zynq UltraScale+ platforms
• Working knowledge of high‑speed serial interfaces and standard bus protocols.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Xilinx RFSoC devices (ZU27DR, ZU47DR, or similar), including direct RF sampling ADC/DAC integration
• Background in radar or SAR signal processing (pulse compression, range/Doppler processing, beamforming algorithms)
• Familiarity with radar waveform design and RF system‑level concepts (noise figure, dynamic range, spurious analysis)
• Experience in aerospace, defense, or space‑qualified hardware development environments
• Exposure to formal verification methodologies (UVM, constrained‑random testbenches, code coverage analysis)
• Experience with embedded Linux and bare‑metal firmware development on ARM Cortex‑A/R processors within SoC platforms
• Familiarity with configuration management practices and version‑controlled FPGA release workflows (Git, CI/CD for HDL)
• Knowledge of environmental qualification and reliability considerations for FPGA designs (radiation effects, thermal derating, FMEA contributions)
• Experience supporting hardware integration and test campaigns, including bench‑level debug with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and spectrum analyzers

Pay Range and Compensation Package

• The estimated base salary range for this role is $145 - $175K depending on experience
• Other benefits include health coverage, flexible PTO, a friendly work environment, plus extra fun perks!

Physical Requirements

This position primarily works in an office environment. It requires the ability to sit or stand for long periods of time and frequent walking. Daily use of a computer, phone, office equipment and other computing and digital devices is required. Some travel may be necessary – the ability to travel by car, plane, train, bus, vessel, or metro, operate a motor vehicle and maintain a valid Driver’s License and/or effectively navigate public transportation is required.

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee must be able to read and respond to inter‑office communications as well as effectively participate in meetings. The employee is often required to sit and use their hands or fingers, to lift up to 50 lbs., pull, push, carry, handle, or feel. The employee is required to carry, handle items, reach with arms and hands, to stoop, kneel, or crouch; talk, or hear. Mental demands may require prolonged concentration, reading comprehension, understanding and interpretation of concepts, ideas, and philosophies. The physical demands of the position described herein are essential functions of the job and employees must be able to successfully perform these tasks for extended periods. Reasonable accommodations may be made for those individuals with real or perceived disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job described unless such accommodations would cause ICEYE US an undue burden.

EEO Statement

ICEYE US is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law