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Senior Avionics FPGA Design & Verification Engineer - TeraWave Verified today

Blue Origin · 4 Locations · Electronics · first seen 2026-09-24
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About TeraWave

Blue Origin is developing TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO).

The Role

As part of the Spacecraft Systems team, you will develop vehicle avionics with Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) at the core for vehicle control and operation. You will design, develop, and verify high-performance avionics hardware for space flight vehicles. You will drive requirements definition, modeling, analysis, design, test, and production release of on-vehicle systems.

Responsibilities

  • Design and develop digital hardware architectures for high reliability satellite avionics
  • Create and implement RTL code for critical SoC blocks and interfaces
  • Contribute to architecture optimization for performance, power, and cost trade-offs
  • Collaborate on design verification to ensure robust and reliable designs
  • Participate in advanced verification techniques: Assertion-Based Verification, Universal Verification Methodology, and Constrained Random Verification
  • Support prototype development for early validation
  • Document design specifications, architecture decisions, and implementation details
  • Participate in design reviews and technical discussions with cross-functional teams
  • Troubleshoot and debug complex digital design issues
  • Implement interfaces between digital hardware and firmware/software components
  • Research and evaluate new architectural approaches to meet evolving requirements
  • Follow designs through formal verification, environmental qualification, release, and integration and flight support activities

Minimum Qualifications

  • B.S. or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline
  • 7+ years of experience in digital design and SoC architecture
  • Proficiency in SystemVerilog or Verilog for RTL implementation
  • Experience with SoC integration and interface design
  • Understanding of digital timing and synchronization concepts
  • Knowledge of industry-standard bus protocols (AXI, AHB, etc.)
  • Familiarity with synthesis tools and RTL-to-gates methodology
  • Experience with simulation and debugging of complex digital systems
  • Strong background in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and FPGA tool flow
  • Solid knowledge of simulation-based test using Questasim and evaluation of code coverage metrics

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline
  • Experience developing avionics or electronics for space, aerospace, or other harsh-environment and mission-critical applications
  • Experience with radiation-tolerant or radiation-hardened FPGA/SoC design techniques (TMR, SEU/SEL mitigation, error detection and correction)
  • Hands-on experience with space-grade or aerospace-qualified FPGAs (Xilinx/AMD Versal, RTG4, Microsemi/Microchip PolarFire)
  • Proficiency with Universal Verification Methodology (UVM), Constrained Random Verification, and Assertion-Based Verification (SVA) in production design flow
  • Experience with high-speed serial interfaces (SpaceWire, SERDES, JESD204, PCIe) relevant to satellite or optical communication payloads
  • Familiarity with safety-critical or high-reliability development standards (DO-254, MIL-STD-883, NASA EEE-INST-002)
  • Experience with hardware/software co-design and firmware integration, including embedded processor cores (MicroBlaze, ARM Cortex, RISC-V soft cores)
  • Scripting and automation experience (Python, Tcl, Perl) for verification, regression testing, and design flow automation
  • Experience with formal verification methods and tools

Compensation

Base pay range varies by location:

  • CA applicants: $156,802.00 - $219,522.45
  • CO applicants: $144,179.00 - $201,849.90
  • WA applicants: $156,802.00 - $219,522.45

Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance
  • Paid parental leave, short and long-term disability
  • 401(k) with company match of up to 5%
  • Education Support Program
  • Stock options for all regular employees (20+ hours/week)
  • Up to 4 weeks paid time off per year based on scheduled hours
  • Up to 14 company-paid holidays

Requirements

Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

A background check is required for all positions.