{"id":91159,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer","title":"Senior Platform Firmware Engineer","company":{"id":8929,"name":"Cowboy Space","domain":"cowboyspace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/cowboyspace","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":5,"ghost_share":0.2,"stale_share":0.4,"repost_share":0.2,"time_to_fill_p50_days":47,"computed_at":"2026-10-27T05:46:45Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Carlos, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":170000,"max":235000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":235000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"TPU","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-30T19:57:50Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-15","last_verified_at":"2026-10-27T19:41:54Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":89,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":89},"description":"About Cowboy Space Corp:\nMission\nCowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.\nBackground\nCowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport.\nCurrent energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.\nBaiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.\nThis is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.\nThe Role\nThis role sits at the boundary between hardware and software. You will work across platform firmware, FPGA logic, board bring-up, system management, and autonomous recovery systems to ensure reliable operation from first power-on through orbital deployment.\nResponsibilities\nDevelop and maintain platform firmware and board management infrastructure for advanced compute systems.\n\nOwn system bring-up and low-level boot sequencing for custom hardware platforms.\n\nDesign and implement FPGA/CPLD logic for power sequencing, reset orchestration, watchdog functionality, and telemetry.\n\nDevelop and customize BMC firmware and management stacks using OpenBMC and related technologies.\n\nImplement and maintain platform management interfaces including Redfish and/or IPMI.\n\nDebug complex hardware/firmware interactions across CPUs, GPUs, PCIe fabrics, and networking devices.\n\nCollaborate closely with hardware, validation, thermal, and systems teams during bring-up and deployment.\n\nDevelop fault recovery and autonomous reboot for remote orbital systems.\n\nSupport secure boot, firmware update, and system attestation architectures.\n\nQualifications\nHands-on experience in embedded systems, platform firmware, BMC development, or hardware bring-up engineering.\n\nStrong proficiency in C/C++ and Python.\n\nDeep understanding of platform initialization and boot architectures.\n\nStrong familiarity with hardware communication interfaces including I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO, and JTAG.\n\nExperience debugging hardware/software interactions at board and system level.\n\nFamiliarity with FPGA or CPLD development workflows using Xilinx or Altera platforms.\n\nStrong systems-level debugging and problem-solving skills.\n\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with server platforms, AI infrastructure, or high-performance compute systems.\n\nFamiliarity with PCIe initialization and accelerator bring-up.\n\nExperience with remote management and fleet-scale telemetry systems.\n\nKnowledge of secure boot, attestation, and firmware security architectures.\n\nFamiliarity with radiation-tolerant or fault-resilient system design.\n\nWhy This Role Is Different\nOwn critical hardware systems, not just a small component\n\nFast iteration cycles with direct path from design to hardware testing\n\nWork closely across disciplines in a tightly integrated team\n\nHigh autonomy and ownership with real impact on the spacecraft\n\nOpportunity to help define hardware systems for a new class of space infrastructure\n\nCompensation and Benefits\nThe salary range for this position is$170,000 - $235,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.\nEquity in Cowboy Space Corp.\n\nEmployees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance\n\n401(k) retirement savings plan\n\nPaid time off\n\n10 paid holidays per calendar year\n\nPaid parental leave\n\nRelocation assistance if applicable\n\nDaily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks\n\nITAR Requirements\nExport Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.\n\nDisclaimer\nThis job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.\nCowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6718,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Parental leave","Relocation assistance","Retirement plans","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Satellite Manufacturing","Space Services","AI Compute & Inference"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-07-30T19:57:50Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":33,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.728,"p_room":0.45,"age_days":88,"expected_fill_days":47,"reasons":["conf:3","velocity","win:tail"],"computed_at":"2026-10-27T05:46:45Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":235000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-27T23:11:05Z","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":15099,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-28T00:00:00Z"}},"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":8929},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=8929"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer"},{"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%2Fcowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer"},{"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%2Fcowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer"},{"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/cowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-senior-platform-firmware-engineer"}]}