Firmware Engineer

Fibertek, Inc. is a leading developer of laser and electro-optic systems for the aerospace community, with key contributions to lasers for atmospheric sensing, laser communications, and lidar sensors for NASA, DoD, and commercial customers. We are looking for an experienced Firmware Engineer to contribute to the development of products on our Research and Development Division in Herndon VA. As part of our R&D division, you would join our firmware team to develop, integrate, and test our firmware products in Fibertek’s spaced-based, electro-optical systems. Essential Job DutiesLead and contribute to firmware architecture and implementation for space-based electro-optical payloads and laser systemsPerform end-to-end firmware development lifecycle: from requirements analysis through design, coding, simulation, verification, and validationCollaborate closely with hardware, systems, software, and optical engineers in cross-functional teams to define interfaces, resolve design issues, and ensure seamless system integrationParticipate in task-based iterative development cycles, incorporating rapid feedback, frequent integration points, and incremental testing to meet mission reliability goalsConduct lab-based debugging, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and system-level validation using diagnostic tools and protocolsSupport peer code reviews, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement of development processes and best practicesApply high-reliability and space-grade techniques (e.g., fault tolerance, radiation mitigation) in a collaborative, team-oriented environmentContribute to documentation, design reviews, and risk identification throughout the product lifecycle Experience and Expertise Required7+ years relevant experienceBS/MS in EE or equivalentExpertise with firmware engineering, VHDL (RTL), System Verilog (Testing)Expertise with Digital Signal Processing, precision timing, optical comms (modems), LIDARExperience with Xilinx, Microchip, and Lattice FPGAs and their associated development toolsExperience developing test benches and running simulations to exercise the design and to verify complianceExperience interfacing and working with hardware designers during development, integration, and test phasesExperience using schematics and block diagrams as inputs for firmware designExperience in high-speed serial links: GTY/GTM, JESD204B/C, Ethernet, SpaceWireExperience in standard peripheral interfaces: SPI, I2C, UART, LVDS, etc.Experience in memory interfaces: DDR3/4, QDR, FRAM, etc.Experience with GitHub, CI/CD for FPGA flows, code reviews, automated linting, synthesis, regression testing, timing closure, bitstream generation, release taggingBonus AreasExperience in Python for build/testing automation and data analysisExperience with Linux, scripting, Docker containers, and automationExperience developing Hi-Rel/Space programs and TMR codingExperience developing code (C, C++) for microcontrollersExperience with VS Code