Senior Firmware Engineer — Spaceborne EO Systems

ED Wallach Search Group; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

ED Wallach Search Group is seeking an experienced Firmware Engineer to contribute to the development of space-based electro-optical systems in Herndon, VA. The role focuses on architecture, implementation, and testing of firmware across cross-functional teams.

You will engage in end-to-end development, hardware-in-the-loop validation, and rigorous reviews to support mission reliability and integration with hardware and optical engineers.

Qualifications

• 7+ years relevant experience in firmware or related fields.
• BS or MS in EE or equivalent required.
• Proficiency with RTL VHDL and SystemVerilog for design and testing.
• Strong background in DSP, timing, and optical communications (modems).
• Experience with Xilinx, Microchip, and Lattice FPGA families and tools.
• Ability to create test benches and run simulations for verification.
• Collaborate with hardware, systems, software, and optical engineers.
• Familiarity with high-speed serial links (GTY/GTM, JESD204B/C, SpaceWire).
• Experience with SPI, I2C, UART, LVDS and memory interfaces.
• Proficient in GitHub, CI/CD for FPGA flows, reviews, linting, and timing closure.

Responsibilities

• Lead firmware architecture and implementation for space-based payloads.
• Execute end-to-end firmware development lifecycle from requirements to validation.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define interfaces and ensure integration.
• Participate in iterative development cycles with frequent integration and testing.
• Perform lab debugging, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and system verification.
• Support peer code reviews and continuous improvement of processes.
• Apply space-grade techniques including fault tolerance and radiation mitigation.
• Contribute to documentation, design reviews, and risk identification.

Skills

Firmware engineering

RTL VHDL

SystemVerilog

Digital Signal Processing

Precision timing

Optical communications

LIDAR

FPGA development tools

Test benches & simulations

Hardware integration

Schematic/block diagrams

High-speed serial links

SPI/I2C/UART/LVDS

DDR3/4/QDR/FRAM

GitHub/CI/CD

Code reviews & linting

Education

BS in EE or equivalent

MS in EE or equivalent

Tools

Xilinx FPGA

Microchip FPGA

Lattice FPGA

FPGA development tools

GitHub

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

ED Wallach Search Group is seeking an experienced Firmware Engineer to contribute to the development of space-based electro-optical systems in Herndon, VA. The role focuses on architecture, implementation, and testing of firmware across cross-functional teams.

You will engage in end-to-end development, hardware-in-the-loop validation, and rigorous reviews to support mission reliability and integration with hardware and optical engineers.