FPGA Engineer

Red Canyon Engineering & Software; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Red Canyon Engineering & Software seeks Aerospace FPGA Engineers to design, develop, and verify FPGA-based solutions for spacecraft and instruments. You will cover full lifecycle from requirements to verification using VHDL, RTL, and Libero SoC and PolarFire FPGA tools.

The role emphasizes hardware integration, timing analysis, testbenches, and collaboration with cross-functional teams in a hybrid Boulder-based setup. Bachelor’s degree in electrical/computer engineering preferred.

Qualifications

• Professional FPGA design and development with VHDL in aerospace or mission-critical embedded environments.
• Experience across RTL design, synthesis, place-and-route, timing analysis, and verification.
• Ability to translate system requirements into FPGA architectures and verification plans.
• Experience with lab hardware integration and debugging on physical boards.

Responsibilities

• Design FPGA logic for spacecraft, payloads, instruments, and embedded aerospace systems.
• Develop, simulate, test, and maintain RTL using VHDL.
• Translate requirements into architectures, interfaces and verification plans.
• Perform synthesis, place-and-route, static timing analysis, and timing closure.
• Develop testbenches and verify function at hardware level.
• Integrate FPGA with processors, memory, sensors, and spaceflight interfaces.
• Support board bring-up, lab testing, and hardware/software integration.
• Analyze clock domains, resets, data paths, and interface timing.
• Debug with simulations, logic analyzers, and oscilloscopes.
• Participate in design reviews and maintain source control and documentation.

Skills

VHDL

FPGA design

RTL design

Timing analysis

Testbenches

Python scripting

SpaceWire/Interfaces

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Tools

Libero SoC Design Suite

Microchip PolarFire FPGA

Job description

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Work Arrangement: Hybrid

Position Overview

We are seeking Aerospace FPGA Engineers to design, develop, integrate, and verify FPGA-based solutions for spacecraft, scientific instruments, and other spaceflight systems.

This position will support the complete FPGA development lifecycle, including requirements definition, architecture, RTL design, simulation, synthesis, timing analysis, hardware integration, and verification. Candidates should have strong VHDL development experience within aerospace, spaceflight, or another mission‑critical embedded environment.

Experience developing with Microchip PolarFire FPGAs and the Libero SoC Design Suite is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop FPGA logic for spacecraft, payloads, scientific instruments, and embedded aerospace systems.
• Develop, simulate, test, and maintain RTL primarily using VHDL.
• Translate system-level requirements into FPGA architectures, detailed designs, interfaces, and verification plans.
• Perform synthesis, place-and-route, static timing analysis, and timing closure.
• Develop testbenches and conduct functional, timing, and hardware-level verification.
• Integrate FPGA designs with processors, memory devices, sensors, communication interfaces, and other spacecraft electronics.
• Support board bring-up, laboratory testing, hardware/software integration, and system troubleshooting.
• Analyze clock-domain crossings, resets, data paths, resource utilization, and interface timing.
• Debug designs using simulation tools, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and embedded diagnostic capabilities.
• Participate in peer reviews, design reviews, requirements reviews, and verification activities.
• Maintain FPGA source code, build environments, documentation, test results, and configuration-controlled releases.
• Collaborate with electrical, embedded software, systems, test, and mission engineering teams.

Required Qualifications

• Professional FPGA design and development experience using VHDL.
• Experience supporting aerospace, spacecraft, satellite, scientific instrument, defense, or another mission-critical embedded system.
• Experience with FPGA architecture, RTL design, simulation, synthesis, place-and-route, and timing analysis.
• Understanding of digital design concepts, clock-domain crossings, reset architectures, finite-state machines, and synchronous logic.
• Experience developing testbenches and performing FPGA verification.
• Experience integrating and troubleshooting FPGA designs on physical hardware.
• Familiarity with source control, requirements traceability, design documentation, and structured engineering processes.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with Microchip PolarFire FPGA devices.
• Proficiency with the Microchip Libero SoC Design Suite.
• Experience with radiation-tolerant or radiation-aware FPGA design for spaceflight applications.
• Knowledge of fault-tolerant design techniques, redundancy, error detection and correction, or single-event upset mitigation.
• Experience with communication interfaces such as SpaceWire, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet, CAN, or MIL-STD-1553.
• Familiarity with embedded processors, soft-core processors, or FPGA/processor integration.
• Experience with Python, Tcl, or other scripting languages used for automation, build processes, or testing.
• Familiarity with aerospace development standards and formal verification processes.
• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related technical discipline.

Work Arrangement

This position follows a hybrid schedule in Boulder, Colorado. Candidates must be available to work onsite as needed for engineering collaboration, laboratory integration, and hardware testing.

Eligible employees may receive medical, dental, and vision insurance, retirement benefits, paid time off, and additional benefits based on employment classification.