Principal Electrical Engineer, FPGA Development

About the role

Space is a warfighting domain. True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures it.

Benefits & Perks *

• Best-in-class healthcare: 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents, with HSA/HRA options
• Generous time off: Flexible Time Off (FTO) for exempt employees, accrued PTO of up to 25 days for non-exempt employees, plus 12 paid holidays; Parental Leave; Sick Leave
• Fuel for your day: Daily catered lunch and unlimited snacks for in-office employees
• And more: 401(k) retirement plan, fitness reimbursement, and Dog Fridays
• Equity participation: Equity is included as part of our total compensation package, giving you an opportunity to share in the company's success.

*Do not apply to fixed term and temporary roles

Your Mission

True Anomaly is seeking an exceptional Principal FPGA Developer to serve as the cross-team technical authority for reconfigurable logic architecture across our spacecraft avionics and payload systems. You will define the common frameworks, digital interface standards, and verification methodologies the entire engineering organization builds upon - and lead the development of a real-time FPGA-based image processing pipeline for on-orbit spacecraft detection, identification, and tracking. You architect solutions that span teams, codify durable patterns, and drive program-level outcomes with calm precision.

Responsibilities

• Define and own reconfigurable logic architectures across avionics and payload systems, ensuring common frameworks and IP reuse
• Lead the design and development of a real-time FPGA-based image processing pipeline for on-orbit spacecraft detection and tracking from payload camera and RPO sensor inputs
• Establish digital interface standards, FPGA reliability standards, and component qualification strategy across programs
• Own the FPGA verification methodology across multiple concurrent projects, ensuring reuse and integration with system-level test
• Design and implement high-speed Ethernet interfaces, including MAC/PHY integration, Layer 2 switch development, and high-throughput data path design
• Optimize avionics architecture at the system level, informing trade studies across performance, cost, reliability, and schedule
• Run multi-stream FPGA development efforts, coordinating delivery and holding accountability for program-level outcomes
• Coach engineers across teams, codify best practices, and build reusable, scalable design patterns

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field (Master's preferred)
• 8+ years of professional FPGA design experience, with demonstrated staff or principal engineer-level contributions
• Deep expertise in VHDL and/or Verilog, FPGA synthesis flows, and multi-clock domain design
• Demonstrated experience designing real-time image processing pipelines in FPGA fabric
• Experience designing high-speed Ethernet interfaces including MAC/PHY integration and Layer 2 Ethernet switch development
• Proven ability to architect cross-team solutions, manage ambiguity, and drive program-level delivery

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with space-qualified or radiation-hardened FPGA families (PolarFire, ProASIC3, SmartFusion2, etc.)
• Experience with computer vision algorithms in FPGA fabric (object detection, centroiding, correlation-based tracking)
• Familiarity with SpaceWire, PCIe, and embedded bus protocols (SPI, I2C, UART)
• Exposure to C, C++, or Python for firmware integration and test automation
• Experience working in a fast-paced, startup environment or a similarly dynamic setting

Compensation

• Base Salary: $175,000-$265,000
• Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, location, and experience.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to maintain or obtain TS// SCI clearance
• Work Location - this role will be onsite at our Long Beach, CA location, with travel to other sites as needed.
• Work environment -the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.
• Physical demands -the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.

Additional information

This position will be open until it is successfully filled. To submit your application, please follow the directions below. #LI-Onsite

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

To protect candidates and our company from application fraud and impersonation, we use third-party tools to verify applicant identity and detect fraudulent applications. Learn more in our Privacy Notice.