Senior Field Application Engineer (FAE) - MPU & DNPU – Robotics/Drones

Job Title

Senior Field Application Engineer (FAE) - MPU & DNPU – Robotics/Drones

Role Summary

Technical lead supporting customers in EMEA on MPU and DNPU solutions for robotics with a focus on drones. Act as the primary technical interface to customer engineering teams, working closely with Sales and Key Account Managers to drive system architecture, bring-up, and software integration for edge AI and perception workloads.

Experience Level

Senior — 10+ years in embedded systems development or applications support of MPU/SoC-based platforms running embedded Linux.

Responsibilities

Provide hands-on technical support across hardware and software to enable customer designs and drive design wins in the robotics/drones segment.

• Advise on edge-compute architecture, processor selection, and software stack integration for NXP MPU and DNPU processors.
• Support design of companion computers, central compute, vision/perception subsystems, and HMI nodes from silicon selection through Linux board bring-up and kernel/driver enablement.
• Troubleshoot hardware and software: schematic reviews, bench bring-up, debugging, and root-cause analysis.
• Enable AI, vision, and sensor-fusion workloads: model conversion, optimization, and on-device inference deployment.
• Collaborate with sales and account teams to translate customer requirements into technical solutions and demonstrations.
• Travel to customer sites as required.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and professional capabilities.

• 10+ years' relevant experience and demonstrated technical leadership in embedded systems and MPU/SoC platforms.
• Strong embedded Linux expertise across bootloader (U-Boot), kernel and device drivers, device tree, Yocto/build systems, and user-space integration.
• Hands-on experience with ARM Cortex-A application processors and heterogeneous compute architectures.
• Working knowledge of high-speed interfaces: LPDDR, PCIe, USB 3.x, MIPI-CSI/DSI, Gigabit/Multi-Gigabit Ethernet, SDIO/eMMC, QSPI.
• Proficiency in Python or other scripting for tooling and automation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication for technical and non-technical audiences; fluent English required.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience enabling AI/ML workloads and optimizing models for integrated NPUs.
• Familiarity with robotics middleware and stacks (Rust, ROS/ROS2, DDS), real-time Linux (PREEMPT_RT), SLAM and navigation frameworks.
• Knowledge of platform security (TrustZone, secure boot, OP-TEE) and power-management/PMIC integration.
• Understanding of functional safety and cybersecurity standards relevant to edge systems.

Education Requirements

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science is specified. (The posting pairs this degree requirement with senior-level experience requirements.)

About the Company

Company: NXP Semiconductors

Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.