Principal Firmware Engineer – Digital ASIC

Application close date:
Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the requisition is closed.

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!

Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space-based connectivity with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This network will service tens of thousands of enterprise, data center, and government users who require reliable connectivity for critical operations.

Job Description

As part of a hardworking team of specialists and engineers, you will serve as a hands-on technical leader responsible for the architecture, development, integration, and delivery of complex embedded firmware for custom digital ASICs in the TeraWave system.

You will own firmware development throughout the silicon lifecycle, from architecture and pre-silicon verification through post-silicon bring-up, system validation, production testing, and manufacturing. This role requires deep technical expertise in low-level embedded firmware, custom digital silicon, and hardware/software integration, along with the ability to independently drive complex technical execution and deliver production-quality firmware.

You will work closely with ASIC design, verification, hardware, communications systems, test, and manufacturing engineering teams to ensure successful firmware integration and delivery against program milestones.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

- Own and lead the architecture, design, implementation, integration, and validation of complex embedded firmware for custom digital ASICs, including Digital Beamforming (DBF) ASICs.
- Develop ROM code and runtime firmware for DBF ASICs, including beam pointing, analog calibration, FEIC management, SerDes link management, secure boot, telemetry, and sideband control.
- Define and own hardware/software interfaces, including register interfaces, control protocols, initialization sequences, interrupt handling, and hardware/software partitioning.
- Develop comprehensive firmware verification and validation strategies, including detailed test plans, functional testing, integration testing, regression testing, and performance characterization.
- Drive pre-silicon firmware development, integration, debugging, and verification using simulation, emulation, and FPGA prototyping platforms.
- Lead post-silicon firmware bring-up, debugging, characterization, and validation of custom ASICs, resolving complex hardware/software integration issues.
- Own end-to-end firmware delivery to silicon validation, system test, and manufacturing teams, including production test firmware, diagnostic capabilities, firmware release packages, and supporting documentation.
- Work closely with test and manufacturing engineering teams to define firmware requirements, develop production test and diagnostic capabilities, and support manufacturing readiness.
- Develop and maintain automated firmware testing frameworks, continuous integration workflows, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation environments.
- Establish firmware development methodologies, coding standards, release management practices, and quality requirements to ensure robust, reliable, and maintainable firmware.
- Identify and mitigate technical risks related to firmware architecture, silicon functionality, real-time performance, and hardware/software integration.
- Collaborate with ASIC design, verification, RF, communications systems, platform software, and manufacturing teams to ensure firmware meets functional, performance, and system-level requirements.
- Provide technical leadership through architecture reviews, design reviews, hands-on problem solving, and mentoring engineers while remaining directly involved in firmware development and execution.

Minimum Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- 10+ years of experience in embedded firmware development, low-level software, or hardware/software systems development.
- Extensive hands-on experience developing embedded firmware in C, including bare-metal and resource-constrained environments.
- Demonstrated experience architecting, developing, and delivering firmware for complex digital ASICs, SoCs, microcontrollers, or hardware accelerators.
- Strong understanding of embedded processor architectures, memory systems, interrupts, DMA, peripheral interfaces, and hardware register programming.
- Experience defining hardware/software interfaces and working closely with ASIC or FPGA design and verification teams.
- Proven experience developing firmware verification strategies, detailed test plans, and automated validation frameworks.
- Demonstrated experience with pre-silicon firmware integration, hardware/software debugging, and post-silicon bring-up.
- Experience delivering firmware to silicon validation, system test, or manufacturing teams, including supporting production testing and debugging.
- Demonstrated ability to independently own complex firmware development efforts, drive technical decisions, and deliver against program milestones.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across multiple engineering disciplines.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with RF and communications systems, including OFDM, digital beamforming, phased antenna arrays, and 3GPP specifications.
- Experience developing firmware for custom communications ASICs, RFICs, beamforming processors, or DSP-based systems.
- Experience with RTOSes and hard real-time constraints, including FreeRTOS or Zephyr.
- Experience with Arm Cortex-M architecture and instruction set.
- Experience integrating and controlling DSP accelerators and hardware processing engines.
- Experience with Rust, particularly no-std Rust for embedded systems.
- Experience with secure boot, firmware authentication, and embedded security architectures.
- Experience with high-speed interfaces, including SerDes initialization, configuration, monitoring, and diagnostics.
- Experience with CI workflows, automated firmware regression testing, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation.
- Understanding of board-level hardware design, including the ability to interpret schematics, ASIC specifications, and component data sheets.
- Experience with pre-silicon firmware development and testing using QEMU, Palladium, ZeBu, or FPGA prototyping platforms.
- Experience with production test firmware, manufacturing diagnostics, silicon characterization, and firmware release management.
- Demonstrated experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership across complex silicon development programs.

Special Mentions

- Relocation provided
- Interviews will include a technical assessment

Base Pay Range for:
CA applicants is $269,175.00 - $376,843.95
WA applicants is $269,175.00 - $376,843.95

Other site ranges may differ

Culture Statement

Don’t meet all desired requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single desired qualification. At Blue Origin, we are dedicated to building an authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every desired qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.