Firmware Engineer

About the Company

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from powering on-orbit compute, to transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit compute to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data.

Responsibilities

• Own firmware development for spacecraft subsystems from concept through on-orbit operations
• Design, develop, and debug embedded firmware for microcontrollers, FPGAs, and custom hardware platforms
• Implement low-level drivers, communication protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN), and real-time control systems
• Develop firmware for power management, avionics interfaces, sensors, and actuator control
• Build robust, fault-tolerant systems with attention to reliability, determinism, and performance under constrained environments
• Support board bring-up, hardware integration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing
• Develop automated test frameworks and validation tools for embedded systems
• Collaborate closely with electrical, avionics, and software teams to define system architecture and interfaces
• Investigate anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and implement fixes across hardware/software boundaries
• Contribute to system-level design, including fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) strategies

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
• 3+ years of experience in firmware or embedded software development
• Strong programming skills in C/C++ for embedded systems
• Experience working with microcontrollers and/or FPGAs
• Familiarity with real-time systems and embedded debugging tools (JTAG, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers)
• Experience with hardware/software integration and board bring-up

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing firmware for aerospace, automotive, robotics, or other high-reliability systems
• Familiarity with RTOS (e.g., FreeRTOS, VxWorks) and real-time scheduling concepts
• Experience with communication stacks and networking protocols in embedded systems
• Understanding of fault-tolerant design, redundancy, and high-reliability system architecture
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and system validation
• Familiarity with Python or scripting for test automation and tooling
• Familiarity with Rust, RTL, and knowledge of various database types
• Exposure to radiation-tolerant design considerations for space systems

Benefits

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Paid time off and 10 paid holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance
• Daily lunch and fully stocked kitchen