{"id":3586807,"url":"https://alion.io/job/blue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic","title":"Principal Firmware Engineer – Digital ASIC","company":{"id":3698,"name":"Blue Origin","domain":"blueorigin.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/blueorigin","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":90,"open_postings":245,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.392,"repost_share":0.004,"time_to_fill_p50_days":45,"computed_at":"2026-11-05T05:54:30Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Cupertino, United States","Seattle, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":269175,"max":376843,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":376843},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Verification & Validation","optional":false},{"name":"Cadence Palladium","optional":true},{"name":"Cortex","optional":true},{"name":"FreeRTOS","optional":true},{"name":"Prometheus","optional":true},{"name":"QEMU","optional":true},{"name":"Rust","optional":true},{"name":"Synopsys ZeBu","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-30T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-30","last_verified_at":"2026-11-05T12:51:55Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"Application close date:\nApplications 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!\nBlue 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\nAs 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.\nYou 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.\nYou 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.\nResponsibilities include but are not limited to:\nOwn and lead the architecture, design, implementation, integration, and validation of complex embedded firmware for custom digital ASICs, including Digital Beamforming (DBF) ASICs.\nDevelop ROM code and runtime firmware for DBF ASICs, including beam pointing, analog calibration, FEIC management, SerDes link management, secure boot, telemetry, and sideband control.\nDefine and own hardware/software interfaces, including register interfaces, control protocols, initialization sequences, interrupt handling, and hardware/software partitioning.\nDevelop comprehensive firmware verification and validation strategies, including detailed test plans, functional testing, integration testing, regression testing, and performance characterization.\nDrive pre-silicon firmware development, integration, debugging, and verification using simulation, emulation, and FPGA prototyping platforms.\nLead post-silicon firmware bring-up, debugging, characterization, and validation of custom ASICs, resolving complex hardware/software integration issues.\n 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.\nWork closely with test and manufacturing engineering teams to define firmware requirements, develop production test and diagnostic capabilities, and support manufacturing readiness.\nDevelop and maintain automated firmware testing frameworks, continuous integration workflows, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation environments.\nEstablish firmware development methodologies, coding standards, release management practices, and quality requirements to ensure robust, reliable, and maintainable firmware.\nIdentify and mitigate technical risks related to firmware architecture, silicon functionality, real-time performance, and hardware/software integration.\nCollaborate with ASIC design, verification, RF, communications systems, platform software, and manufacturing teams to ensure firmware meets functional, performance, and system-level requirements.\nProvide technical leadership through architecture reviews, design reviews, hands-on problem solving, and mentoring engineers while remaining directly involved in firmware development and execution.\nMinimum Qualifications\nBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.\n 10+ years of experience in embedded firmware development, low-level software, or hardware/software systems development.\nExtensive hands-on experience developing embedded firmware in C, including bare-metal and resource-constrained environments.\nDemonstrated experience architecting, developing, and delivering firmware for complex digital ASICs, SoCs, microcontrollers, or hardware accelerators.\nStrong understanding of embedded processor architectures, memory systems, interrupts, DMA, peripheral interfaces, and hardware register programming.\nExperience defining hardware/software interfaces and working closely with ASIC or FPGA design and verification teams.\nProven experience developing firmware verification strategies, detailed test plans, and automated validation frameworks.\nDemonstrated experience with pre-silicon firmware integration, hardware/software debugging, and post-silicon bring-up.\nExperience delivering firmware to silicon validation, system test, or manufacturing teams, including supporting production testing and debugging.\nDemonstrated ability to independently own complex firmware development efforts, drive technical decisions, and deliver against program milestones.\nStrong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across multiple engineering disciplines.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with RF and communications systems, including OFDM, digital beamforming, phased antenna arrays, and 3GPP specifications.\nExperience developing firmware for custom communications ASICs, RFICs, beamforming processors, or DSP-based systems.\nExperience with RTOSes and hard real-time constraints, including FreeRTOS or Zephyr.\nExperience with Arm Cortex-M architecture and instruction set.\nExperience integrating and controlling DSP accelerators and hardware processing engines.\nExperience with Rust, particularly no-std Rust for embedded systems.\nExperience with secure boot, firmware authentication, and embedded security architectures.\nExperience with high-speed interfaces, including SerDes initialization, configuration, monitoring, and diagnostics.\nExperience with CI workflows, automated firmware regression testing, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation.\nUnderstanding of board-level hardware design, including the ability to interpret schematics, ASIC specifications, and component data sheets.\nExperience with pre-silicon firmware development and testing using QEMU, Palladium, ZeBu, or FPGA prototyping platforms.\nExperience with production test firmware, manufacturing diagnostics, silicon characterization, and firmware release management.\nDemonstrated experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership across complex silicon development programs.\nSpecial Mentions\nRelocation provided\nInterviews will include a technical assessment\nBase Pay Range for:\nCA applicants is $269,175.00 - $376,843.95\nWA applicants is $269,175.00 - $376,843.95Other site ranges may differ\nCulture Statement\nDon’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.\nExport Control Regulations\nApplicants for employment at Blue Origin must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e. current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.\nBackground Check\nRequired for all positions: Blue’s Standard Background Check\nRequired for Certain Job Profiles: Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) background check if at any time the role requires one to be on a military installation\nRequired for Certain Job Profiles: Drivers who operate Commercial Motor Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or combination of power unit and trailer that meets or exceeds 10,001 lbs. and/or transports placardable amounts of hazardous materials by ground in any vehicle on a public road while in commerce, may be subject to additional Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations including: Driver Qualification Files, Medical Certification (obtained before onboarding), Road Test, Hours of Service, Drug and Alcohol Testing, vehicle inspection requirements, CDL requirements (if applicable) and hazardous materials transportation/shipping training.\nRequired for certain Job Profiles: Ability to obtain and maintain Merchant Mariner Credential, which includes pre-employment and random drug testing as well as DOT physical\nBenefits\nBenefits include: Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.\nStock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)\nPaid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.\nDependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on the company's intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in the company's results, or other factors at the company's sole discretion. Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation. Please check with your recruiter for more details. \nEqual Employment Opportunity\nBlue Origin is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to attracting, retaining, and developing a highly qualified and dedicated work force. Blue Origin hires and promotes people on the basis of their qualifications, performance, and abilities. We support the establishment and maintenance of a workplace that fosters trust, equality, and teamwork. We provide all qualified applicants for employment and employees with equal opportunities for hire, promotion, and other terms and conditions of employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin/ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local law. Blue Origin will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the Washington Fair Chance Act, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance, and other applicable laws. For more information on “Know Your Rights,” please see here.\nAffirmative Action and Disability Accommodation\nApplicants wishing to receive information on Blue Origin’s Affirmative Action Plans, or applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in the application and/or interview process, please contact us at . Please note this is a publicly managed inbox. Please do not include any personal medical information in your request.","description_format":"text","description_chars":11451,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Life insurance","Parental leave","Stock options"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Launch Services","Space Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-01T12:31:29Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Filed H-1B visas in the last two years","filings_12m":0,"filings_prev_12m":1,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":6,"expected_fill_days":45,"reasons":["conf:12","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-05T05:54:30Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":376843,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/blue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/blue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-05T13:17:28Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":17097,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-06T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3698},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3698"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fblue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fblue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fblue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/blue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fblue-origin-principal-firmware-engineer-digital-asic"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3586807}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"blueorigin.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3586807},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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