Lead FPGA Engineer
Astrolab
Other Engineering
Hawthorne, CA, USA
USD 183k-230k / year + Equity
Posted on Feb 25, 2026
Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is pioneering new ways to explore and operate on distant planetary bodies. We are singularly focused on designing, building, and operating a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity’s presence in the solar system. We are seeking motivated, creative, and exceptional people to join our world-class team.
The Avionics team is responsible for all aspects of the electrical systems and hardware on Astrolab’s electric rover vehicles and ground support equipment. We work collaborative with all teams at Astrolab to provide exceptionally capable and reliable electronics to serve our missions.
The Lead FPGA Engineer will lead and participate in all aspects of the development and test of avionics FPGA RTL designs for Astrolab rovers. The ideal candidate has 15+ years of experience in FPGA firmware development including RTL design, simulations, analysis, verification, and HW testing.
This position will report to the Director of Avionics Engineering and will be based in our Hawthorne, CA office.
- Department
- Avionics
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Location
- Hawthorne, California
- Workplace type
- Onsite
- Compensation
- $183,000 - $230,000 / year
- Reporting To
- jake perry
What you'll do:
- Own and define the vehicle system FPGA architecture, standards, practices, processes, tools, etc.
- Support avionics digital system architecture and requirements development and analysis
- Lead the development of Astrolab FPGA RTL design and verification by other FPGA engineers.
- Develop FPGA logical architectures and requirements in collaboration with other engineering disciplines, including defining HW/SW interfaces between fabric logic and processing subsystems.
- Own unit-level RTL development from blank sheet to flight for Microsemi, Xilinx, or other FPGA or SoC devices in either SystemVerilog or VHDL.
- Perform design verification, including simulations, test benches, timing analysis, and hardware testing.
- Lead design reviews, demonstrate requirement traceability, and create documentation for FPGA operation and interfacing with other SW and FPGA systems.
- Lead and participate in test campaigns ranging from unit-level manual tests, unit automated tests, and system-level tests.
What you'll bring:
- Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent.
- 15+ years of experience in FPGA RTL architecture, development, verification, deployment, and maintenance.
- Skilled in SystemVerilog or VHDL.
- Skilled in at least 1 scripting language (TCL, shell, Python, etc).
- Skilled in verification techniques and timing/stability analysis.
- Proficiency in understanding PCB designs and reading schematics.
- Proficiency in understanding embedded software.
- Proficiency with AXI protocols (at least AXI4 family).
- Knowledge of common bus and memory interfaces (DDR4, SPI, I2C, UART, etc).
- Demonstrated success working in a dynamic environment.
Additional Responsibilities
- Design for space environments, including radiation impacts and mitigations.
What We Offer:
- Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
- Equity ownership in the company
- Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
- 401(k) plan with company match
- Flexible PTO and parental leave
- Home office set up reimbursement
- Fully flexible and remote friendly work environment
- Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
- Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks
About Astrolab
Having a strong, inclusive, and inspired team is essential to accomplishing our bold mission. Employees are our biggest asset, and we are deeply committed to them and our values. At Astrolab we…
Demonstrate and inspire trust. Interactions are direct, honest, and respectful. We are fair and transparent with what we do and why.
Thrive in balance. Balance gives us perspective and keeps us motivated and inspired. We commit to rewarding work and a fulfilling personal life.
Seek diverse perspectives. We ask questions, engage in productive debate and offer alternatives to ensure our solutions and products are robust and a reflection of our collective best.
Move with purpose. Quality and reliability are accomplished through efficient ideation and iteration. We act with a sense of urgency and deliver what we promise, always with the big picture in mind.
Make an impact. We intentionally move our community and industry into the future through our work, practices, and actions.
Our Hiring Process
Stage 1:
Application Review
Stage 2:
Recruiter Phone Interview
Stage 3:
Video Interviews
Stage 4:
On-site Interview
Astrolab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, parental or pregnancy status, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or veteran status. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to careers@astrolab.space. We strive to remove unconscious and unnecessary barriers to build the best team. While we’ve outlined what an ideal candidate could look like, we know that you may bring something unanticipated and essential to the team. If you’re reading this and can see yourself contributing, please register below.
