FPGA Engineer

Chaos; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

CHAOS is seeking a highly-skilled FPGA Engineer to support R&D and product engineering for next-generation radar products. This role involves designing complex FPGA systems, integrating them with software, and collaborating in a mission-focused environment. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in digital design and a strong educational background in engineering.

Benefits

Health Benefits

Free daily lunch

Unlimited PTO

401k with company match

Generous pre-IPO stock option grants

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in detailed digital RTL design targeting FPGAs.
• Extensive experience with the entire FPGA design life cycle.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and collaborate on small teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement complex FPGA designs targeting next-generation sensor products.
• Support system integration of FPGA designs with complex software systems.
• Work full-time on-site in our office in Hawthorne, California.

Skills

RTL design

Verilog

SystemVerilog

ARM AMBA AXI Protocol

FPGA design life cycle

Bash

Python

Education

Bachelor’s or higher degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related degree

Tools

Vivado Design Suite

FPGA Ethernet IP blocks

Job description

CHAOS Inc. is a global technology company delivering next-generation capabilities to the defense and critical industrial sectors. Founded in 2022 by a seasoned leadership team, CHAOS has quickly become the place where world-class multi-disciplinary engineers come to build mission-critical technologies. CHAOS has a mission-focused culture, dedicated to solving the toughest technical challenges. Its unique agile engineering approach enables rapid prototyping, while deep partnerships with defense and industry ensure real-world solutions.

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking a highly-skilled and motivated FPGA Engineer to join our team supporting our R&D and product engineering initially focusing on our next-generation radar products. This is a highly collaborative role which will allow you to work on multiple capabilities within our product offerings. As a member of our engineering team, you also have the opportunity to expand your skillset across our product families.

Responsibilities:

• Design and implement complex FPGA designs targeting our next-generation sensor products
• Support system integration of FPGA designs with complex software systems
• Support deployed FPGA capabilities in the hands of our U.S. and international customers
• Work full-time on-site in our office in Hawthorne, California

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s or higher degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related degree
• 5+ years of experience in a professional setting performing detailed digital RTL design targeting FPGAs
• Extensive experience with the entire FPGA design life cycle: RTL design, behavioral simulation, place and route, timing analysis, hardware integration
• Extensive experience developing in Verilog and SystemVerilog
• Extensive experience with the ARM AMBA AXI Protocol (AXI4, AXI4-Lite, AXI4-Stream)
• Extensive experience with the AMD (Xilinx) Vivado Design Suite and SoC FPGAs (Zynq, Ultrascale/Ultrascale+, Versal)
• Experience with Network Protocols (TCP/UDP/IP)
• Experience with Serial Protocols (I2C, JTAG, UART, SPI, CAN)
• Experience using Bash and Python for scripting and testing
• Experience modifying software drivers and applications when needed to validate FPGA designs
• Experience with Agile lifecycle processes including Scrum, Continuous Integration, and Test-Driven Development Methodologies
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and collaborate on small teams
• U.S. Person status is required as this position will require the ability to access U.S.-only data systems

Preferred Requirements:

• Experience designing and implementing highly performant baseband signal processing in an FPGA
• Experience translating high level algorithms from Simulink/MATLAB or similar into RTL including FPGA Vendor IP implementations
• Experience developing and implementing software drivers (C/C++/Python) to interface with FPGA designs
• Experience with FPGA Ethernet IP blocks (1G/10G/40G/100G)
• Experience with Software-Defined Radios (SDRs)
• Experience in Ground or Airborne Sensors (Radars, EO/IR, EW, etc.)
• Experience with Time Synchronization technologies (NTP / PTP)
• Experience with HLS Synthesis and languages (C/C++/SystemC/Chisel)
• Experience with VHDL
• Experience with high-speed, multi-layer, digital printed circuit board (PCB) design
• Current or previous DoD security clearance
• Experience with GPUs and/or AI engines
• Experience with git
• Experience with Bitbucket CI, Jenkins or similar CI/CD flows
• Experience with DoD & related System/SW Architectures and messaging standards (e.g. OMS, SOSA, Link-16, etc)

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Your medical, dental and vision benefits will be 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: life, FSA, HSA, 401k (+ Company match), and more
• Our Perks: free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO (for exempt employees), casual dress code
• Compensation Components: competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance + (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Company Size: 100 employees and counting!
• More About Us: We're building the next generation of aerospace, defense and critical industry technologies with a seasoned team of mission-focused individuals. We were founded in June 2022 and our goal is to become the platform where world-class engineers come to solve critical, real-world problems. We use agile engineering approaches which enable rapid prototyping, deep partnerships with the defense industry ensuring real-world application, and our newly-invented Coherence platform (through which we’ve made a fundamental breakthrough) improves sensor performance and decision-making in real-time. As of April 2025 we have raised $490M (including a $275M Series C at a $2B valuation) from some of the most prominent VC funds and investors including Accel, NEA, 8VC, and Valar. With a managing team that includes Epirus’ founding members (responsible for building a $1.5B company from scratch) + key drivers from Palantir (instrumental in Palantir’s growth to $1B in revenue), we are well-positioned to become one of the fastest growing companies to date!

Salary range: $130,000 - $180,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

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