Senior FPGA Engineer: Space Networking & Security

Muon Space, Inc.; San Jose, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 184,000 - 208,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k retirement plan

Equity compensation

Three weeks paid vacation and holidays

Job summary

Muon Space is seeking a Senior FPGA Engineer to architect and implement onboard networking and security for next-generation spacecraft. You will shape data movement from sensors to downlink, write RTL, and collaborate with senior architects across the HPC team.

The role combines hands-on FPGA engineering with architectural influence, focusing on encryption, VPN termination, and high-speed I/O while working on-site in San Jose, CA three days a week. U.S. security clearance is a plus.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field plus 5+ years of FPGA engineering experience specializing in networking, cryptography, security, or high-speed I/O.
• Deep hands-on experience with Ethernet, link aggregation, and high-speed DAC lane rates, including signal integrity considerations.
• Strong practical experience applying cryptographic algorithms in hardware/firmware: AES, AES-GCM, ECC, IPSec/VPN, PQC familiarity.
• Experience with Reed-Solomon and translating BER/link-budget needs into FEC implementations.
• Proven track record defining onboard networking: switching/routing/filtering, DPI, VPN termination in FPGA-based systems.
• Excellent HDL/RTL skills and modern FPGA verification practices; able to author architecture docs and papers.
• Willingness to obtain/maintain a U.S. security clearance; active clearance is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Define onboard networking architecture for spacecraft, including switching, routing, filtering, DPI, and VPN concepts.
• Implement end-to-end encryption and packet-based encryption at router level for onboard and downlink data.
• Define and evaluate onboard Ethernet switching devices and options (COTS, semi-custom, FPGA-based).
• Design and build a spacecraft NoC and robust FPGA-to-FPGA links with health monitoring.
• Own Ethernet PHY and MAC integration on FPGAs, including link aggregation and signal integrity trade-offs.
• Apply FEC schemes to onboard/inter-FPGA links and translate requirements into RTL.
• Integrate network fabric with customer payloads and validate low-level link interoperability.
• Publish white papers; collaborate with Staff Onboard Compute Architect to harmonize networking with compute.

Skills

Ethernet

Cryptography in hardware

Security architectures

FEC (Reed-Solomon)

NoC (Network-on-Chip)

HDL/RTL (SystemVerilog/Verilog/VHDL)

Network packet flows design

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/CE/EE

Tools

FPGA verification methodologies

HDL debugging tools

Job description

Muon Space is seeking a Senior FPGA Engineer to architect and implement onboard networking and security for next-generation spacecraft. You will shape data movement from sensors to downlink, write RTL, and collaborate with senior architects across the HPC team.

The role combines hands-on FPGA engineering with architectural influence, focusing on encryption, VPN termination, and high-speed I/O while working on-site in San Jose, CA three days a week. U.S. security clearance is a plus.