Firmware Engineer
San Francisco, CA

Job Description

Description

As a member of our Payload Interface and Control Unit (PICU) team, you will be helping build Loft Orbital's standard interface that enables us to host and operate a wide range of payload types.

The PICU is a flight hardware unit with a high reliability and continuous operation profile. It provides hardware, firmware and software based functionality that involves the physical and protocol level interfacing with different payloads/instruments on one side and the satellite platform on the other.

Since high flexibility and versatility play an important role, the PICU is quite software-centric and supports on-ground and in-space re-programmability. Loft Orbital will be utilizing the latest technology available for the PICU, which includes a mix of existing and next-generation component and processor technology.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

* Must be scrappy and inventive: what you will be building has never been done before.
* Be prepared to be challenged and sometimes work out of your comfort zone.
* Willingness to be accountable, autonomous, and take full ownership of projects.
* Preferably experience with software/firmware developed for safety-critical applications or software developed for aerospace
* Awareness and understanding of mission-critical systems and related software impact
* Current on software www.loftorbital.com processes, technology and tooling
* A preference for agile yet process-controlled software www.loftorbital.com
* Ability to code and document (wherever possible electronically and in-line) in a structured way
* Ability to work both independently as well as part of a multi-disciplined team
* Ability to learn and adopt to new technologies
* Demonstrable history of thinking outside-the-box, without losing sight of reality
* Experience working in both a Windows and Linux environment

FIRMWARE REQUIREMENTS:

* Understanding of space electronics and specific (technology) constraints in www.loftorbital.com and deployment
* Extensive experience with VHDL and/or VERILOG
* Experience in working with Rad-hard or Rad-tolerant FPGAs and SoC devices
* Experience with SEU mitigation mechanisms
* In-depth knowledge of www.loftorbital.com environments such as: Libero, Vivado
* Affection with upcoming technologies for FPGA www.loftorbital.com using OpenCL / C++ / Automatic Code Generation
* Experience with IP cores for interfacing and communication
* Experience in structured code www.loftorbital.com incl. test benching, simulation and code coverage
* JTAG programming / debugging
* Preferably past experience in embedded or space hardware www.loftorbital.com

The role includes competitive compensation package, stock options, and full benefits (healthcare, vision, dental).