Firmware Engineer

Socket.dev; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) retirement savings plan

Paid time off

10 paid holidays per year

Paid parental leave

Relocation assistance

Daily office lunch and stocked kitchen

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. in San Carlos, CA is seeking an experienced Embedded Firmware Engineer to own firmware for spacecraft subsystems from concept to on-orbit operations.

You will design, develop, and debug firmware for microcontrollers, FPGAs, and custom hardware, implementing real-time control and power management. You will work with electrical, avionics, and software teams to ensure reliability in constrained environments, contribute to HIL testing, and build automated tests.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field.
• 3+ years of firmware or embedded software development.
• Strong programming in C/C++ for embedded systems.
• Experience with microcontrollers and/or FPGAs.
• Familiarity with real-time systems and embedded debugging tools.

Responsibilities

• Own firmware development for spacecraft subsystems from concept through on-orbit operations.
• Design, develop, and debug embedded firmware for microcontrollers, FPGAs, and custom hardware platforms.
• Implement low-level drivers, communication protocols, and real-time control systems.
• Develop firmware for power management, avionics interfaces, sensors, and actuator control.
• Build robust, fault-tolerant systems with reliability and determinism under constrained environments.
• Support board bring-up, hardware integration, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Develop automated test frameworks and validation tools for embedded systems.
• Collaborate with electrical, avionics, and software teams to define interfaces.
• Investigate anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and fix across hardware/software boundaries.
• Contribute to system-level design including fault detection, isolation, and recovery.

Skills

C/C++ programming

Firmware development

Real-time systems

Embedded debugging tools

Hardware/software integration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field

Tools

JTAG

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Job description

About Cowboy Space Corp.

Mission

Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.

Background

Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport. Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases. Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others. This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation ’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities:

• Own firmware development for spacecraft subsystems from concept through on-orbit operations

• Design, develop, and debug embedded firmware for microcontrollers, FPGAs, and custom hardware platforms

• Implement low-level drivers, communication protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN), and real-time control systems

• Develop firmware for power management, avionics interfaces, sensors, and actuator control

• Build robust, fault-tolerant systems with attention to reliability, determinism, and performance under constrained environments

• Support board bring-up, hardware integration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing

• Develop automated test frameworks and validation tools for embedded systems

• Collaborate closely with electrical, avionics, and software teams to define system architecture and interfaces

• Investigate anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and implement fixes across hardware/software boundaries

• Contribute to system-level design, including fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) strategies

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field

• 3+ years of experience in firmware or embedded software development

• Strong programming skills in C/C++ for embedded systems

• Experience working with microcontrollers and/or FPGAs

• Familiarity with real-time systems and embedded debugging tools (JTAG, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers)

• Experience with hardware/software integration and board bring-up

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience developing firmware for aerospace, automotive, robotics, or other high-reliability systems

• Familiarity with RTOS (e.g., FreeRTOS, VxWorks) and real-time scheduling concepts

• Experience with communication stacks and networking protocols in embedded systems

• Understanding of fault-tolerant design, redundancy, and high-reliability system architecture

• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and system validation

• Familiarity with Python or scripting for test automation and tooling

• Familiarity with Rust, RTL, and knowledge of various database types

• Experience working in fast-paced, high-ownership environments with rapid iteration cycles

• Exposure to radiation-tolerant design considerations for space systems

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $130,000 - $185,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401(k) retirement savings plan

• Paid time off

• 10 paid holidays per calendar year

• Paid parental leave

• Relocation assistance if applicable

• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

• Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.

Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.