RTL Firmware Engineer - Lunar Terrain Vehicle

Location: Intuitive Machines HQ, Houston, TX, US

Work Level: Full Time

RTL Firmware Engineer (Lunar Terrain Vehicle)

(NASA LTVS Award Contingent)
Houston, Texas, United States

About Intuitive Machines:

Intuitive Machines is an innovative and cutting-edge space company making cislunar space accessible to both public and private customers. We believe our mission is to further research, communications, and exploration beyond low lunar orbit. With multiple NASA lunar missions in the making and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting NASA, our customers and the nation in paving the way to return humans to the surface of the moon. Our world-class team includes experts in all spacecraft subsystems design, development, and test, on-orbit operations, and safety.

We are seeking a RTL Firmware Engineer specializing in Versal Hardware Acceleration to support Intuitive Machines’ Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) program. The LTV is NASA’s next-generation autonomous lunar rover, and this role will focus on developing RTL firmware and software modules for Xilinx Versal ACAP hardware, enabling hardware-accelerated autonomy, vision, and navigation functions in real time.

The successful candidate will work at the intersection of embedded systems, FPGA development, and autonomy software, creating high-performance compute pipelines to process sensor data, support decision-making, and ensure safe rover operations in the lunar environment.

*Employment in this role is contingent upon NASA selecting Intuitive Machines as a winner of LTVS program, scheduled for announcement later in 2025. 

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and optimize firmware and software pipelines targeting Xilinx Versal platforms for hardware-accelerated computing.
• Develop accelerated kernels for AI/ML inference, image processing, and sensor fusion to support rover autonomy.
• Collaborate with autonomy and perception teams to identify compute bottlenecks and offload them into hardware acceleration.
• Implement RTL firmware, low-level drivers, and middleware to integrate FPGA-accelerated modules into rover software architecture.
• Perform hardware/software co-design to balance workloads across CPUs, GPUs, and FPGA fabric.
• Develop and execute verification and validation tests for hardware-accelerated modules under simulated lunar conditions.
• Support mission-critical performance requirements for vision, navigation, and control systems.
• Generate documentation, design specifications, and test reports.

Qualifications (This position is posted across multiple levels, with multiple openings) 

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field; M.S. preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in RTL firmware and software development.
• Hands-on experience with FPGA programming (Xilinx/AMD preferred), including VHDL/Verilog and/or HLS (High-Level Synthesis).
• Familiarity with Xilinx Versal ACAP hardware, Vivado, Vitis, or equivalent FPGA toolchains.
• Familiarity with Embedded Linux (PetaLinux/Yocto).
• Experience with C/C++ and Python/matlab for firmware and hardware integration.
• Background in real-time systems, robotics, or autonomous vehicles.
• Understanding of sensor data processing (camera, LiDAR, radar, IMU).
  

Preferred

• Experience with ROS/ROS2 and integration of hardware acceleration into robotics frameworks.
• Background in computer vision, AI/ML inference (CNNs, SLAM, path planning).
• Familiarity with radiation-tolerant FPGA design practices for space applications.
• Experience in NASA, defense, or spaceflight programs.
• Knowledge of DO-254, DO-178, or equivalent safety-critical development standards.
• Please note, this position can lean towards stronger FPGA/Xilinx 

EEOC

Intuitive Machines is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.