Senior FPGA Engineer II — Spacecraft Firmware & On-Orbit

Rocket Lab USA; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 143,000 - 191,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

EV charging subsidy

Onsite fitness centers

Gym membership discounts

Snacks and beverages

Merchandise discount

Employee discounts

Job summary

Rocket Lab USA in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior FPGA Engineer II to design and verify FPGA firmware for spacecraft avionics. You will work closely with multidisciplinary engineers across the Space Systems division, leading firmware development from requirements through testing.

The role emphasizes Xilinx/Microchip FPGA/SoC design, verification, and documentation, with opportunities to test on-orbit hardware. U.S. citizenship is required for program security.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical, computer, or software engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of FPGA firmware development experience.
• Proficiency in VHDL for FPGA programming.
• U.S. citizenship due to program requirements.

Responsibilities

• Design and verify FPGA firmware for Xilinx and Microchip FPGA/SoC devices.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary engineers across avionics systems.
• Develop documentation for FPGA operation and interfacing with SW and FPGA systems.
• Participate in test campaigns from module to unit/system level.

Skills

FPGA firmware development

VHDL

FPGA design fundamentals

US citizenship

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical, computer, or software engineering

Master's or PhD in electrical, computer, or software engineering

Tools

Xilinx devices and tools

Microchip devices and tools

UVM

VUnit

GIT

JIRA

Job description

Rocket Lab USA in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior FPGA Engineer II to design and verify FPGA firmware for spacecraft avionics. You will work closely with multidisciplinary engineers across the Space Systems division, leading firmware development from requirements through testing.

The role emphasizes Xilinx/Microchip FPGA/SoC design, verification, and documentation, with opportunities to test on-orbit hardware. U.S. citizenship is required for program security.