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Salary: USD 143,300 - 191,000 / annual
Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems for civil, commercial, and defense customers. The Space Systems team has enabled over 1,700 missions, including interplanetary exploration, in-space manufacturing, and national security initiatives, with partnerships including NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.
As a Senior FPGA Engineer II, you will develop and verify FPGA firmware designs for avionics systems in spacecraft programs. You will collaborate with engineers across multiple disciplines throughout the full lifecycle of FPGA firmware—from requirements definition through design, implementation, verification, and testing. This role offers frequent opportunities to test and operate systems on-orbit, providing direct visibility into real-world mission impact.
Key responsibilities include:
- Collaborating with other engineering disciplines to develop firmware architecture and requirements
- Designing and verifying FPGA firmware for Xilinx and Microchip FPGA and SoC devices
- Developing documentation for FPGA operation and interfacing with other software and FPGA systems
- Participating in test campaigns ranging from module-level to automated testing at unit and system levels
The role is based in Long Beach, CA and requires U.S. citizenship due to ITAR program requirements.
QUALIFICATIONS (Required):
- Bachelor's degree in electrical, computer, software engineering, or related engineering discipline
- 8+ years of experience with FPGA firmware development
- Proficiency in VHDL
- Strong understanding of FPGA design fundamentals and principles
- U.S. citizenship
QUALIFICATIONS (Preferred):
- Master's or PhD degree in electrical, computer, software engineering, or related engineering disciplines
- Proficiency with Xilinx and Microchip devices and tools
- Proficiency with verification frameworks including UVM and VUnit
- Experience with software-defined radios and DSP algorithms
- Experience with feedback control systems
- Experience with FPGAs and embedded systems in radiation environments, including SEU/SEL impact and mitigation within spacecraft avionics
- Proficiency with signal integrity and digital timing concepts, including digital worst-case circuit analysis (DWCCA)
- Experience with common interface protocols (SPI, UART, I2C, CAN)
- Experience with high-speed interface protocols (GigE, PCIe)
- Proficiency with embedded software
- Ability to read PCB designs and schematics
- Proficiency with lab tools and hardware work
- Proficiency with GIT repository, JIRA, and continuous integration environments
- Demonstrated success managing competing priorities in dynamic environments
