Senior FPGA Engineer

About the role

Muon Space is seeking a Senior FPGA Engineer to join our satellite development team. You will be responsible for building programmable compute logic for orbiting satellites. The ideal candidate is a self-motivated, versatile FPGA or ASIC engineer or architect with proven experience across various stages of design, from concept through delivery.

On our satellites, FPGAs enable mission-critical functions, including high-speed satellite communications, Earth imaging sensor interfaces, radio spectrum sensing and analysis, and high-performance onboard compute acceleration.

This role involves designing flexible architectures and signal processing pipelines, networking components, image processing systems, and software-defined radio (SDR) applications. You will collaborate closely with system software and hardware integration teams. Development phases span feasibility studies, concept engineering, HDL/RTL design and implementation, verification and validation, lab testing, and continuous deployment into operational and upcoming satellite missions.

Get excited about seeing your solutions operate in space!

Responsibilities

• Develop FPGA programmable logic across the full lifecycle: feasibility, concept, architecture, design specification, test planning, HDL/RTL implementation, verification and validation, bitstream generation, lab testing, and continuous integration into live and future satellite missions

• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to expand the capabilities of on-satellite compute for Earth observation, including imaging and radio applications

• Translate mission concepts and system requirements into robust, well-documented designs

• Help define and evolve our on-satellite compute architecture, including communications, SDR, and sensing applications

• Design signal processing pipelines, control logic, data routing networks, data processing and encryption accelerators, and high-speed interfaces

• Expand and maintain a library of reusable, configurable IP blocks, and tailor solutions for specific mission needs

• Apply industry best practices and design patterns in FPGA development and verification

• Maintain and improve the FPGA build environment, including scripting, CI/CD workflows, build server configuration, and lab test infrastructure

Qualifications

• B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field

• 5+ years of FPGA or ASIC design experience with strong Verilog or SystemVerilog expertise in logic design, simulation, and verification

• Deep understanding of synchronous and asynchronous logic design, timing constraints, and resource trade-offs

• Familiarity with IP design and integration, system-on-chip (SoC) practices including network-on-chip architectures, memory systems, and efficient data packetization

• Proficiency in scripting FPGA build, simulation, verification and version control in a Linux environment

• Ability to write software interfaces within Linux to integrate FPGA logic with onboard systems

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document technical decisions and lead complex discussions

Nice-to-have Skills

• Hands-on experience implementing and debugging high-speed digital communication interfaces involving clock recovery and synchronization, for example Ethernet

• Experience with raw image data processing, stitching, and lossless compression

• Knowledge of radio communication systems, modulation, channel coding, error control and digital signal processing (DSP)

• Familiarity with antenna design for multi-channel RF systems and experience developing software-defined radio (SDR) solutions using GNU Radio

• Background in network protocols like TCP, UDP and IP including the application of encryption techniques

• Experience integrating FPGA logic with embedded Linux on an AMD (Xilinx) MPSoC or RFSoC, making compute functions accessible to the OS and user space

Salary

The salary range for this role is $144,000 - $213,000 plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

About Muon Space

Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.

Taking Care of Our Team

At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.

Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too.  Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.