Firmware Engineer, Sr Staff

Job Title

Firmware Engineer, Sr Staff

Role Summary

Senior firmware engineer responsible for leading firmware architecture, development, bring-up and validation for UCIe chiplets and related chiplet IP. The role works closely with hardware, digital/verification, systems and software teams to define requirements, implement low-level firmware, and drive pre-silicon to post-silicon device bring-up and optimization.

Experience Level

Senior-level (expected 6+ years of relevant embedded firmware/firmware-systems experience).

Responsibilities

Own firmware lifecycle for chiplet IP from RTL/integration through post-silicon validation and optimization. Collaborate across disciplines to meet performance and schedule targets.

• Gather requirements from architecture and system teams and translate them into firmware and validation plans.
• Design and implement efficient C/C++ firmware and device interface code for bare-metal and embedded environments.
• Define and execute bring-up, validation and debug strategies with ASIC, digital verification and system engineers.
• Develop test, diagnostic and debug infrastructure and tools; perform lab bring-up using oscilloscopes, JTAG, I2C/SPI tools, etc.
• Drive cross-functional issue resolution across silicon, hardware, and software domains.
• Document firmware and hardware interface specifications and design decisions.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote reuse and best practices for firmware development.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience required to perform the role.

• Proficiency in C/C++ and Python.
• 6+ years working with embedded systems (ARM, RISC-V, MIPS, etc.) and low-level software: bare-metal, BIOS/UEFI, kernel/RTOS, device drivers.
• Experience with bring-up, validation and debugging of CPU/SoC/FPGA/MCU/DSP components in lab environments.
• Familiarity with HDLs (Verilog/SystemVerilog) and digital verification flows and EDA tools/methodologies.
• Experience with high-speed interfaces and protocols such as SerDes, Ethernet, PCIe and D2D/UCIe; knowledge of peripherals (e.g. DDR, I2C, SPI, MIPI, USB, NVMe, CAN).
• Hands-on use of bring-up/debug tools (oscilloscope, JTAG debuggers, I2C/SPI tools) and creation of monitoring/config APIs.
• Strong problem-solving, communication and organizational skills; ability to lead cross-functional engineering efforts to closure.

Nice-to-have

• Embedded Linux development (Buildroot, Yocto), RTOSes (Zephyr, FreeRTOS) and experience with FPGAs (Xilinx) and board-level debugging (power, SI, EMC).
• Experience with Agile tools (Jira, Confluence) and open-source contributions.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems or a related technical field. The posting specifies: Bachelor's degree + 2+ years relevant experience, Master's + 1+ year, or PhD. (Degrees explicitly listed in the source; equivalent-industry experience patterns are described by the degree+experience combinations.)

About the Company

Company: Qualcomm

Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States

Qualcomm is a global leader in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment, specializing in mobile technologies and innovations. Known for its Adreno GPUs, the company provides solutions enabling advancements in mobile gaming, AI, VR/AR, and autonomous driving. Qualcomm's cutting-edge technology and commitment to high-performance, power-efficient designs drive the evolution of mobile graphics and connectivity worldwide.