Principal Firmware Architect - Space Systems

Firefly Aerospace; Leander (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental & vision plans

Relocation benefits

Educational reimbursement

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, based in Texas, seeks a Principal Firmware Engineer to lead architectures for avionics and to develop robust firmware for spaceflight systems. You will work across hardware, FPGA, GNC, and software teams, mentor engineers, and shape verification and flight-worthiness practices in a fast-paced startup environment.

The role requires deep embedded firmware expertise, strong system thinking, and the ability to drive technical direction for spaceflight hardware and ground systems.

Qualifications

• Ten years of embedded firmware or software development experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
• Strong C/C++ on bare-metal, RTOS, or embedded Linux targets.
• Experience with microcontrollers, ARM architectures, and low-level interfaces (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, Ethernet).
• Ability to architect complex firmware systems and mentor engineers.

Responsibilities

• Define and own firmware architectures for critical avionics systems.
• Design, implement, and debug firmware in C/C++ for embedded targets.
• Mentor firmware engineers and lead design reviews.
• Collaborate with hardware, FPGA, GNC, systems, and software teams for integration.
• Drive high-reliability firmware practices: verification, fault handling, configuration management, and flight-worthiness.

Skills

C

C++

Embedded firmware

ARM

RTOS

Embedded Linux

SPI/I2C/UART/CAN

Debugging

Education

Bachelor's degree (CS, EE, CE)

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

FreeRTOS

VxWorks

Bare-metal

Job description

Firefly Aerospace, based in Texas, seeks a Principal Firmware Engineer to lead architectures for avionics and to develop robust firmware for spaceflight systems. You will work across hardware, FPGA, GNC, and software teams, mentor engineers, and shape verification and flight-worthiness practices in a fast-paced startup environment.

The role requires deep embedded firmware expertise, strong system thinking, and the ability to drive technical direction for spaceflight hardware and ground systems.