Embedded Software Engineer - Zephyr RTOS

Job Title

Embedded Software Engineer - Zephyr RTOS

Role Summary

Develop and enable Zephyr RTOS on MIPS RISC-V MCUs, SoCs, FPGA platforms, and virtual development platforms. Work on board and SoC bring-up, kernel and driver integration, SDK content, testing, and upstream open-source contributions.

Collaborate with CPU architecture, SoC, FPGA, tools, validation, and customer-facing teams to deliver platform bring-up and SDKs for internal and external users.

Experience Level

Mid-level - 4–6 years of embedded software development experience.

Responsibilities

Primary engineering tasks and deliverables for the role include:

• Port and enable Zephyr RTOS on new MIPS RISC-V processors, SoCs, FPGA platforms, and virtual targets.
• Develop and maintain board support packages, device tree descriptions, startup code, interrupt and timer support, and SoC integration layers.
• Implement or integrate Zephyr device drivers for UART, SPI, I2C, GPIO, timers, watchdogs, Ethernet, CAN, storage, and similar peripherals.
• Create reference applications, samples, tests, and SDK documentation to support internal teams and customers.
• Debug kernel, driver, boot, memory, interrupt, concurrency, and performance issues on emulators, FPGA, or silicon.
• Contribute automated tests to Zephyr test infrastructure and integrate builds and regression runs into CI pipelines.
• Contribute fixes and features upstream to Zephyr and related open-source projects where appropriate.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience; nice-to-have items listed separately.

• Must-have: 4–6 years of hands-on embedded software development experience.
• Must-have: Strong C programming skills; working knowledge of C++ and embedded assembly.
• Must-have: Practical Zephyr RTOS experience (kernel configuration, Kconfig, devicetree, west/CMake builds, boards/SoCs, device drivers).
• Must-have: Solid understanding of RTOS concepts: threads, scheduling, interrupts, synchronization, timers, memory management, and IPC.
• Must-have: Experience with bare-metal firmware, memory-mapped I/O, low-level drivers, BSPs, and hardware bring-up.
• Must-have: Experience using Git and debugging tools such as GDB, OpenOCD, Segger J-Link, or Lauterbach.
• Must-have: Python or shell scripting for build, test, and validation automation.
• Must-have: Ability to read processor, SoC, and peripheral technical documentation and translate it into reliable software.

Nice-to-have:

• RISC-V architecture, privilege levels, interrupts, timers, and toolchain experience.
• Zephyr upstream contribution or participation in open-source communities.
• Networking stacks, Ethernet, TCP/IP, device management, secure boot, firmware update, or MCUboot experience.
• FPGA, pre-silicon models, post-silicon bring-up, or embedded validation experience.
• Exposure to functional safety, security, or automotive/industrial embedded systems.

Education Requirements

Not specified.

About the Company

Company: GlobalFoundries

Headquarters: Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

GlobalFoundries is a leading contract manufacturer for the global semiconductor industry, with facilities in multiple countries, including the USA. The company develops a broad portfolio of semiconductor technologies and employs around 13,000 people worldwide. GlobalFoundries focuses on enhancing competitiveness in specialized application solutions and fostering innovation in mobile communications, consumer electronics, and automotive applications.