Senior FPGA Engineer

About the role

Impulse Space is looking for a highly skilled FPGA Engineer to design, implement, verify and integrate high-performance digital logic for advanced communication and processing systems in its next generation of space vehicles. The role sits in the avionics field and calls for strong HDL development experience, a practical understanding of high-speed digital architectures and hands-on lab debugging skills.

Key responsibilities

• Develop, implement and optimize FPGA designs using VHDL or Verilog
• Perform high-speed digital integration, including multi-clock domain interfaces, timing closure and advanced clock-constraint management
• Architect FPGA data paths focused on throughput, parallelism and resource efficiency
• Integrate AXI4/AXI-Stream interfaces and related on-chip bus architectures
• Manage FPGA clocking with PLL and MMCM primitives
• Use Xilinx and Intel/Altera tools for synthesis, place-and-route, constraints and timing analysis
• Build self-checking testbenches for functional verification and regression coverage
• Debug designs in the lab with logic analyzers, oscilloscopes and tools such as Chipscope or SignalTap
• Work with DSP, systems and software teams to define hardware architectures and support algorithm implementation

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering or a related technical discipline
• At least 5 years of experience in the optical communications field
• Hands-on experience with lab debugging and FPGA hardware bring-up

Required skills

• HDL development in VHDL or Verilog
• High-speed digital design, timing closure and parallel data-path architectures
• Familiarity with AXI4/AXI-Stream standards
• Xilinx (Vivado) and Intel/Altera (Quartus) toolchains
• PLL/MMCM clocking and multi-clock domain integration
• Creating self-checking testbenches for module- and system-level verification

Preferred: 3+ years implementing DSP algorithms in hardware, 3+ years with advanced communication or signal-processing systems, MATLAB/Simulink, startup or agile environment experience, and strong communication of technical challenges.

What we offer

• Stated pay range of $145,000 - $200,000 per year
• Possible long-term incentives in the form of stock options for full-time hires
• Medical, vision and dental coverage and a 401(k) retirement plan

The position is subject to U.S. export regulations (ITAR and EAR); applicants must be U.S. persons or eligible to obtain an export license. Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer.