Senior Firmware Engineer - Aerospace | Defense

Citizenship Requirement - Government Contracting

The Opportunity

StaffRight Associates is proud to act as an external recruitment partner for an industry-leading innovator in aerospace and defense technology to secure a talented Senior Firmware Engineer. Based in Herndon, Virginia, this critical role within the Research and Development division centers on shaping next-generation spaceborne electro-optical instrumentation and sophisticated laser payloads. Joining this cutting-edge enterprise means immersing yourself in transformative missions that support vital defense and commercial objectives, offering long-term career growth alongside pioneers in optical communication and atmospheric sensing.

What You’ll Do

• Architect, code, and deploy robust firmware solutions tailored for advanced space-based electro-optical payloads and laser systems.

• Execute the complete development lifecycle spanning requirements analysis, design synthesis, rigorous simulation, hardware verification, and final validation.

• Partner with multidisciplinary engineering teams—including hardware, systems, software, and optical groups—to harmonize interfaces and streamline system integration.

• Execute iterative, task-driven development cycles that incorporate continuous feedback, incremental testing, and mission-critical reliability targets.

• Perform laboratory debugging, hardware-in-the-loop validation, and system-level testing using specialized diagnostic instruments and protocols.

• Champion peer code reviews, document engineering lifecycles, and drive continuous refinement of internal processes and best practices.

• Implement high-reliability and space-grade methodologies such as radiation mitigation and fault tolerance within a collaborative team environment.

What You Bring

• 7 to 15 Years of professional engineering experience backed by a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering or equivalent technical degree.

• Advanced proficiency in Firmware Engineering, VHDL (RTL), and System Verilog (Testing).

• Deep knowledge of Digital Signal Processing, Precision Timing, Optical Comms (Modems), and LIDAR.

• Hands-on expertise utilizing Xilinx, Microchip, and Lattice FPGAs alongside their proprietary development environments.

• Proven capability in creating comprehensive test benches and running functional simulations to verify design compliance.

• Experience translating architectural schematics and block diagrams into functional firmware implementations.

• Mastery of high-speed serial protocols including GTY/GTM, JESD204B/C, Ethernet, and SpaceWire.

• Familiarity with standard peripheral interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART, and LVDS.

• Proficiency across memory architectures including DDR3/4, QDR, and FRAM.

• Practical background with GitHub, CI/CD for FPGA flows, automated linting, logic synthesis, regression testing, timing closure, bitstream generation, and release tagging.

• Preferred experience leveraging Python, Linux, Scripting, Docker Containers, C, C++, and VS Code for build automation, microcontroller programming, and data analysis.

Compensation & Total Rewards

• Annual Salary: $140,000 - $210,000 (Full Time / Direct Hire)

• Plus Top Benefits

Joining StaffRight Associates

When you partner with StaffRight Associates in your search for your next role, you’re doing more than pursuing a job, you’re aligning yourself with a team of experts committed to placing top-tier talent in truly impactful positions. We take pride in fostering professional growth and connecting forward-thinking individuals with organizations that value innovation and excellence. We look forward to showcasing your expertise in a way that resonates with our clients and opens the door to meaningful opportunities.