FPGA Engineer

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.

Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world's toughest obstacles.

As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.

We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

About the Role:

Join a dynamic and innovative team at Planet, where you'll play a pivotal role supporting our FPGA based designs, which are fundamental to the imaging operations of our cutting-edge satellites. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the development and validation of our new designs and the improvement of our FPGA build tools and testing infrastructure. You'll collaborate closely with a diverse group of engineers, including electrical, RF, camera, and firmware specialists, to deliver fully validated designs for our satellites.

The ideal candidate is passionate about Planet's mission and thrives in a collaborative, fast-paced environment. This role will appeal to candidates who are looking for opportunities to take an organization to the next level and are deeply mission-driven.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our San Francisco office 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

• Collaborate with RTL/EE/SW engineers to bring up new boards in the lab, to validate and debug new releases, and to automate hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Improve and build new features for our FPGA tools and infrastructure.
• Work with manufacturing test engineers to develop production testing flows to ensure our designs perform as expected after launch.
• Implement FPGA modules under the guidance of senior engineers.

What You Bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or similar with 2+ years of experience.
• Experience with writing System Verilog for RTL design and verification.
• Familiarity with scripting and programming (Python, C++, shell).
• Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., git).
• Familiarity with lab-based debug of electrical systems (e.g., logic analyzers, oscilloscopes).

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience with Xilinx Vivado, Vitis, and Versal.
• Experience in validating hardware/software interfaces.
• Experience testing high speed serial protocols including PCIe/NVMe, MIPI, Camera Link, JESD
  204B, etc.

Final date to receive applications:

March 17, 2026 at 11:59pm PT

EAR/ITAR Requirements:

This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate's ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

Benefits While Working at Planet:

These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
• Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
• 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to Linked In Learning
• Equity
• Commuter Benefits…