Senior Platform Firmware Engineer

Department: Chief Engineering & Reliability

Location: San Carlos, California

Employment Type: FullTime

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. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we’re unlocking entirely new ways to operate both in orbit and on Earth.

Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), Cowboy Space Corp. is backed by leading investors and built by a team from top aerospace and defense organizations. We’re moving quickly to solve complex technical challenges and build a new category of space infrastructure.

The Role

This 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.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain platform firmware and board management infrastructure for advanced compute systems.

• Own system bring-up and low-level boot sequencing for custom hardware platforms.

• Design and implement FPGA/CPLD logic for power sequencing, reset orchestration, watchdog functionality, and telemetry.

• Develop and customize BMC firmware and management stacks using OpenBMC and related technologies.

• Implement and maintain platform management interfaces including Redfish and/or IPMI.

• Debug complex hardware/firmware interactions across CPUs, GPUs, PCIe fabrics, and networking devices.

• Collaborate closely with hardware, validation, thermal, and systems teams during bring-up and deployment.

• Develop fault recovery and autonomous reboot for remote orbital systems.

• Support secure boot, firmware update, and system attestation architectures.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in embedded systems, platform firmware, BMC development, or hardware bring-up engineering.

• Strong proficiency in C/C++ and Python.

• Deep understanding of platform initialization and boot architectures.

• Strong familiarity with hardware communication interfaces including I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO, and JTAG.

• Experience debugging hardware/software interactions at board and system level.

• Familiarity with FPGA or CPLD development workflows using Xilinx or Altera platforms.

• Strong systems-level debugging and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with server platforms, AI infrastructure, or high-performance compute systems.

• Familiarity with PCIe initialization and accelerator bring-up.

• Experience with remote management and fleet-scale telemetry systems.

• Knowledge of secure boot, attestation, and firmware security architectures.

• Familiarity with radiation-tolerant or fault-resilient system design.

Why This Role Is Different

• Own critical hardware systems, not just a small component

• Fast iteration cycles with direct path from design to hardware testing

• Work closely across disciplines in a tightly integrated team

• High autonomy and ownership with real impact on the spacecraft

• Opportunity to help define hardware systems for a new class of space infrastructure

Compensation and Benefits

The 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.

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401(k) retirement savings plan

• Paid time off

• 10 paid holidays per calendar year

• Paid parental leave

• Relocation assistance if applicable

• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

• Export 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.

Disclaimer

This 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.

Cowboy 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.