Senior Digital Design Engineer

Umbra is an American space technology company delivering advanced systems, from sensors to spacecraft, that empower customers worldwide with unmatched access to critical information from space. Our mission is simple and ambitious: redefine space—for people, systems, and missions in every domain. Umbra's ecosystem operates through three business units: Remote Sensing (the data), Space Systems (the components), and Mission Solutions (the platforms). Together, our teams develop capabilities that deliver persistent access, resilient performance, and mission-ready solutions, advancing U.S. space leadership while keeping the world safe and informed.

About The Team
Mission Solutions - The Platforms

Mission Solutions builds on Umbra's expertise in remote sensing and spacecraft operations to engineer platforms purpose-built for U.S. and allied defense and intelligence missions. Whether it's a custom payload, a full-stack spacecraft, or the infrastructure behind an entire constellation, our team delivers secure, resilient systems tailored to exacting requirements and built on timelines that match the urgency of the mission.

If you want to work on cutting-edge space technology that's redefining what's possible in space platforms, you belong here at Umbra.

About The Job
We are seeking a Senior Digital Design Engineer to develop HDL based digital designs to support Umbra's Mission Solutions business unit. This position will collaborate with the software and electrical engineering teams to develop, analyze, manufacture, and test microwave subsystems. This is a unique opportunity to design and implement innovative solutions to support a variety of Mission Solutions customer mission sets. Our ideal candidate is a solution-driven problem solver, an exceptional communicator, and possesses a strong systems-thinking mindset to drive innovation in spacecraft development.

Our aim is to hire this position to work in either our Santa Barbara/Goleta, CA office, Arlington, VA office, or Reston, VA office (coming soon).
Key Responsibilities

• Develop FPGA-based digital designs for radar, electronic warfare, and communications.
• Work with electrical and systems engineers to integrate Xilinx SoC based hardware with high-speed data converters and associated microwave transmitter and receiver chains.
• Continuously collaborate with the payload engineering team to address mechanical, thermal and power subsystems and interfaces.
• Rapidly develop prototypes and iteratively improve hardware and firmware.
• Prepare engineering documentation, reports, and test plans.
• Perform other professional duties as assigned.

Requirements
Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's of Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering or equivalent.
• Knowledge of foundational electrical engineering, computer architecture and digital design concepts.
• 5-8+ years of proven, relevant experience in digital design with FPGA and SoC devices.
• Development experience with Xilinx devices and design suite, such as Vivado, SDK and Vitis.
• Expertise in VHDL and/or Verilog.
• Experience developing MCU and SoC software in Rust or C/C++.
• Working knowledge of modern FPGA architectures and external interfaces, including high speed converters, DDR RAM, and Solid-State NAND and NOR based storage.
• Familiarity with standard physical layers for digital communication (UART, SPI, LVDS).
• Comfortable working in a dynamic and fast-paced development environment.

Desired Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering or equivalent.
• 10+ years of proven, relevant experience in digital design with FPGA and SoC devices.
• Experience with high-speed data