Bring-Up Firmware Engineer

Job Title

Bring-Up Firmware Engineer

Role Summary

Develop validation and test firmware to bring up, characterize, and qualify new optical communication hardware and control algorithms for an integrated photonics laser platform.

The role works with early hardware units and the production firmware team to validate behavior, create instrumentation-grade firmware, and hand off tested designs for productization.

Experience Level

Mid-level — requires 3+ years of professional embedded firmware experience focused on microcontroller-based, real-time systems.

Responsibilities

Work across firmware, hardware bring-up, and test to enable early validation and transition to production firmware.

• Design and implement validation firmware for microcontroller platforms that drive lasers, modulators, photodetectors, and control electronics.
• Translate control methods prototyped in Python into embedded firmware and verify behavior on hardware.
• Interface with precision ADCs and DACs for current control, TEC/temperature control, power monitoring, and photodiode feedback.
• Implement bootloaders, firmware update mechanisms, diagnostics, and telemetry for manufacturing and field support.
• Configure and read sensors and peripherals over I²C, SPI, UART, GPIO; implement sampling, calibration, and filtering strategies for ADC/DAC channels.
• Support board-level bring-up and debug of custom PCBs and evaluation boards using oscilloscopes, DMMs, and logic/protocol analyzers.
• Characterize behavior across operating corners, document failure modes and resolutions, and produce test procedures for handoff to production.
• Maintain design documentation, interface control documents, and test procedures.

Requirements

Must-have: practical embedded firmware skills and hardware bring-up experience. Nice-to-have: control theory, photonics familiarity, and higher-level tooling.

• 3+ years building embedded firmware in C/C++ for real-time systems (bare-metal and/or RTOS), including interrupt-driven design.
• Experience with microcontrollers and low-level peripheral interfaces: I²C, SPI, UART, GPIO, ADC/DAC.
• ADC/DAC interfacing: configuration, calibration, sampling strategies, and filtering.
• Microcontroller clocking and timing: clock trees/PLL, hardware timers/PWM, interrupt latency/priority, timer/DMA-driven deterministic sampling.
• Ability to implement hardware-control algorithms as modular, testable firmware.
• Experience reading schematics and datasheets; hands-on PCB bring-up and debugging with lab instruments.
• Familiarity with version control (Git) and standard software engineering practices.
• Strong problem-solving, documentation, communication, and teamwork skills.

Nice-to-have:

• Closed-loop control theory and implementation (PID, system identification, stability analysis).
• Experience with photonics components and laser driver ICs; familiarity with TOSA/ROSA components.
• TEC control, thermal management, and precision analog control loops.
• Mixed-signal PCB design and bring-up: schematic capture, layout review, power delivery, sequencing, and biasing.
• Embedded Linux or SoC FPGA experience (Zynq, Cyclone/Arria SoC); firmware/FPGA interfacing and register-map design.
• Python for test automation and data analysis; DSP fundamentals; unit testing frameworks and CI/CD for embedded projects.

Education Requirements

BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field was requested in the posting; the role also expects 3+ years of embedded firmware experience. (No explicit alternative "equivalent experience" wording was provided.)

About the Company

Company: Xscape Photonics

Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, United States

Developer of integrated photonics solutions and instrumentation, specializing in photonic circuits, control systems, and test methodologies for optical communication and sensing applications. Works on device integration, control algorithms, and validation of photonic hardware and firmware.