Staff FPGA/Firmware Engineer

Turion Space is building spacecraft for national security and in-space operations. From debris removal to space domain awareness to building a more secure space economy we are a team focused on getting real hardware to orbit fast and scaling capability.

We are looking for a Staff FPGA/Firmware Engineer to join our rapidly growing team in Irvine CA. In this role you will be accountable for the architecture end-to-end design and verification of projects FPGA/SOC systems. This will require expertise and/or familiarity with: HDL firmware and low-level Linux.
This is a full-time exempt position based on-site at our Irvine California headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Own development of HDL and firmware on custom FPGA FPGA SoC and low-level embedded systems

• Provide early guidance and input on architecture decision for subsystem and vehicle-level architectures

• Define requirements and processes to ensure traceability and progress tracking

• Develop custom HDL modules for FPGA systems (focus on high speed data movement and handling)

• Design firmware for soft cores (MicroBlaze RISC-V etc.) platforms to interface with FPGA fabric and peripherals

• Create custom HDL to interface with SoC hard cores drivers and corresponding custom firmware.

• Work with electrical engineers and others to support the bring-up of custom hardware

• Lead verification of HDL and firmware to ensure flight-readiness

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience developing firmware or HDL for FPGAs in a professional environment

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering Computer Science Mathematics or related field

• Demonstrated work in RTL design using VHDL Verilog and/or SystemVerilog

• Proficiency with FPGA design tools (Xilinx Vivado Microchip Libero or similar)

• Experience developing firmware in bare-metal or RTOS environments

• Experience developing embedded systems using C/C++

• Strong understanding of digital design and embedded systems principles

• Ability to obtain a Secret and/or TS/SCI security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with high-level synthesis (HLS) tools (e.g. Xilinx Vitis HLS MATLAB FPGA generator)

• Experience with FPGA verification techniques (formal verification UVM SystemVerilog assertions)

• Familiarity with Xilinx Ultrascale Zynq MPSoC Versal and/or Microchip PolarFire platforms

• Proficiency working with firmware development tools such as JLink Keil IAR or GCC

• Experience with FreeRTOS and embedded Linux.

• Strong understanding of FPGA timing floor planning and clock domain crossing best practices

• Experience with AMBA bus architectures (AXI AHB APB) and custom AXI IP design

• Experience with high-speed serial interfaces (GbE PCIe Aurora LVDS) and low-speed interfaces (RS422 UART I2C SPI)

• Familiarity with RAM architectures efficient buffering techniques and FLASH interfaces (ONFi)

• Experience with image sensors and camera systems

Staff FPGA Engineer / Staff Firmware Engineer: $175000 – $225000 USD.

ITAR Requirements:

This position may include access to technology and/or software source code that is subject to U.S. export controls. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident (aka green card holder) (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157 or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158 or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Benefits:
We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package designed to support the well-being and professional growth of our employees. In addition to a competitive base salary and company stock determined by factors such as job-related knowledge education skills experience and market demand full-time employees are eligible for:​

• Equity: Receive equity in Turion Space letting you benefit from the company's success

• Health Insurance: Comprehensive medical dental and vision coverage for employees and their dependents. ​

• Retirement Plans: Access to a 401(k) plan to help you plan for your future. ​

• Paid Time Off: Generous vacation days personal days sick days and holidays to ensure you have time to recharge. ​

• Professional Development: Opportunities for ongoing training workshops and courses to advance your skills and career growth.

• Team Building Activities: Regular social events team outings and company-sponsored activities to foster a positive work environment. ​

We are dedicated to providing a supportive and enriching environment for our team members recognizing that our collective success is built upon the well-being and satisfaction of each individual.

Turion Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Turion Space is governed on the basis of merit competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race color religion gender national origin/ethnicity veteran status disability status age sexual orientation gender identity marital status mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

What We Do

Turion Space is building the infrastructure to secure and sustain the future of space. Founded to address the growing need for space domain awareness in-space servicing and debris mitigation Turion designs builds and operates spacecraft with real-world operational capability. Our vehicles are built for national security and commercial missions that require speed autonomy and resilience. We believe the next chapter of space operations will be defined by who can act not just observe. That’s why we’re focused on building platforms that move fast adapt in orbit and solve problems ranging from satellite servicing to tactical intelligence gathering. We successfully launched our DROID.001 satellite in June 2023 and DROID.002 in March 2025. DROID.003 is scheduled for launch in 2026.

Why Work With Us

Turion Space is where startup grit meets real space missions. We build and fly spacecraft for defense servicing and domain awareness. No red tape no sidelines just hands-on work that matters.

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