FPGA Engineer
Xona Space Systems
Xona is building the next generation of satellite navigation — a high-performance, resilient alternative to GPS powered by a commercial constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. We are on a mission to unlock a new era of autonomy, advanced mobility, and infrastructure resilience by delivering precise, secure, and robust positioning services to the world.
We're not here to incrementally improve GNSS. We're here to redefine it from the ground up.
We are seeking a mid-level FPGA Engineer to join our team working on high-reliability digital systems for space-based navigation payloads. In this role, you’ll contribute to the design, implementation, and testing of FPGA logic for real-time, mission-critical applications. You’ll work closely with hardware and systems teams to help bring our next-generation payloads from concept to flight.
What You’ll Do
- Develop, implement, and verify RTL designs for Xilinx FPGAs (e.g., RFSoC, Zynq Ultrascale+)
- Build and maintain digital processing pipelines, control logic, and data interfaces
- Support hardware bring-up and system integration on custom satellite payloads
- Design for fault tolerance and space reliability, including SEU mitigation and system monitoring
- Collaborate with systems, hardware, and software engineers to define and validate FPGA requirements
- Participate in lab testing, simulation, and design reviews
- Document designs, test plans, and development processes in a structured, reviewable format
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
- 3–5 years of professional FPGA design experience using Verilog, VHDL, or SystemVerilog
- Strong experience with FPGA development flows, including Vivado or similar tools
- Proficiency in simulation, verification, and hardware debugging techniques
- Familiarity with on-chip interfaces such as AXI, AXI-Stream, and clock domain crossing
- Hands-on experience bringing up FPGA designs in a lab environment
- Comfortable working in a Linux development environment with version control tools like Git
- Must be able to work full-time onsite in Burlingame, California
Desired Qualifications
- Experience working with Xilinx Zynq or RFSoC devices
- Exposure to space system development, including SEU mitigation techniques and fault-tolerant design
- Familiarity with high-speed interfaces, memory controllers, or custom peripheral integration
- Scripting experience (e.g., Python or TCL) for automating test and build processes
- Experience collaborating on multi-disciplinary hardware/software projects
- Understanding of space qualification and hardware validation processes is a plus