Senior FPGA Engineer in Toulouse

About Aerospacelab

Our mission is supported by an ambitious vertically integrated approach: design & manufacture of small satellites combined with development of earth observation services.

Since its creation in 2018, the company has already grown substantially.

Our team gathers more than 25 engineering expertise, from hardware design to software development & data science.

In 2024, Aerospacelab counts offices in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), Toulouse (France), Lausanne (Switzerland) and US West Coast with more than 200 full-time employees, with the ambition to position itself as the European leader in small satellites.

Role Overview

Contemporary satellites are commonly constructed in a modular fashion, divided into distinct units, each dedicated to a specific function.

In adopting a vertical integration approach, Aerospacelab, as a satellite manufacturer, designs a wide variety of these units.

Leveraging the FPGA’s flexibility andreprogrammabilitymakes it an excellent choice as the foundational technology for our units.

As our portfolio of FPGA-based units grows, we are looking for a Senior FPGA Engineer to take technical ownership of thatgateware: someone who can shape architecture from system requirements, raise the bar on design and verification quality, and grow the engineers around them.

You will join one of our agile development teams built around a specific unit: on-board computers, software defined radios, image sensors, optical transceivers, network switchesortelecommunication payloadand act as the FPGA technical reference for that team.

Beyond writing RTL yourself, you will own the FPGA architecture, make and defend the key design trade-offs, mentor junior and mid-level engineers, and lead small groups of FPGA engineers on the more complex units.

These units bring challenging signal and image processing algorithms, innovative opticalsolutionsand high-throughput routing.

Communication and cooperation across competences are central: you'llwork closely with PCB designers (EE) and embedded software engineers, and, depending on the project: RF, optical or network engineers.

You'lloften be the person translating between system intent andgatewarereality.

At Aerospacelab, our motto isworkhard, play hard.

We strive to innovate in a fun and inclusive environment, and we work in short cycles: no waiting years before code goes live and earns valuable feedback.

Expect a role where your decisions shapestate-of-the-artgatewarethat rapidly makes its proof in orbit.

• Our Missions
• Answer challenging requirements with innovative, well-justified architectural solutions
• Cope with the constraints of the space environment
• Create critical, high-qualitygatewareand the verification that proves it
• Set and uphold design, documentationand verification standards across the team
• Mentor FPGA engineers and lead small FPGA teams on complex units
• Our Work Environment
• RTL: VHDL
• Simulation: Questasim, Makefile, Python, TCL
• Tests on target: Makefile, Embedded-C, Embedded-Linux, Free RTOS, Python
• CI/CD: Gitlab, Docker
• Key Activities
• Define and own the FPGA design architecture from system requirements, including the major design trade-offs
• Design, simulate, integrateand test RTL codewhilereviewingthe RTL of others
• Drive the verification strategy (testbenches, on-target test procedures, CI)
• Write and test software driver code
• Write and review technical documentation
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers, and lead small FPGA teams
• Interface with other engineering teams (EE, RF, Operations, Embedded Software, System) and represent FPGA in cross-unit technical decisions
• Must Have
• 5 to 10 years of professional experience in FPGA/RTL design, witha track recordof taking designs from requirements through tovalidatedhardware
• Master or Ph D in Computer, Electronics or Mechatronics Engineering or equivalentthroughexperience
• Strong command of RTL programming (in order of preference: VHDL, Verilog, System C, System Verilog)
• Experience with C and Python
• Strong understanding of the full FPGA design flow (synthesis, place & route, timing closure)
• Strong understanding of software and hardware interactions
• Solid experience with version control and continuous integration
• Experience with digital signal or image processing
• Proven ability to mentor engineers and provide technical leadership
• Excellent verbal and written skills to interact across teams and up to system level
• Comfortable in a lab environment: power supplies, oscilloscopesand spectrum analyzers
• Good English knowledge
• Passion for digital design
• Nice To Have
• Experience in space or another high-reliability / safety-critical domain (avionics, automotive, medical)
• Familiarity with radiation effects and mitigation techniques (TMR, scrubbing, etc.)
• Experience with Embedded-Linux (CLI usage & kernel customization)
• Experience with high-speed transceivers, PCIe or network interfaces (1G to 100G)
• Experience with memory interfaces (DDR3, DDR4, DDR5)
• Experience with PCB and hardware design
• Experience with advanced or formal verification methodologies
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