System Software Engineer (Automotive SoC)

Job Title

System Software Engineer (Automotive SoC)

Role Summary

Develop core system software that controls and schedules hardware accelerators (NPU/GPU) on automotive SoCs to maximize performance and reliability. Work spans middleware, drivers, execution control, and performance optimization for R‑Car class SoCs.

The role involves creating customer-facing demos and technical proposals, investigating market and technology trends, and collaborating with internal teams and global customers to deliver product and solution value.

Experience Level

Mid-level — typically requires 5+ years of professional software development experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include developing, optimizing, and validating core software for SoC accelerators and supporting customer engagement.

• Design, implement, and optimize execution control and scheduling software for hardware accelerators (NPU/GPU) on automotive SoCs.
• Develop middleware and drivers that integrate accelerator pipelines with system software.
• Create software demos and technical proposals for customers; present and explain technical solutions.
• Investigate market and technical trends and evaluate new solution approaches.
• Collaborate with customers and internal teams (domestic and international) in technical discussions and joint development.
• Perform software verification, validation, and performance tuning across module and system levels.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience. Education requirements are listed separately below.

• Five or more years of software development experience.
• Practical experience in one or more of the following: embedded SoC image-processing pipeline design/implementation involving DSP/NPU/GPU; end-to-end software design, development, verification, and validation.
• Development experience in multi-process or multi-core environments.
• Knowledge and hands-on experience with IPC and memory/resource management (e.g., SMMU/IOMMU).
• Experience developing software on one or more of these OSes: Linux (KMS/DRM/Wayland/V4L2/libcamera/GStreamer), Android (SurfaceFlinger/WindowManager/CODEC), QNX, or FreeRTOS.
• Strong C/C++ skills; familiarity with modern C++ (C++14/17) is desirable.

Nice-to-have:

• Knowledge of functional safety or automotive processes (ISO 26262, Automotive SPICE).
• Experience with camera interfaces (MIPI‑CSI2, SerDes), image processing, and display output.
• Audio/video codec implementation experience (AAC, H.264, H.265, AV1).
• Familiarity with SYCL, ROS2, OpenVX, OpenCV, OpenGL ES, OpenCL, Vulkan, or CUDA.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum development processes.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Engineering, Electronic/Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

About the Company

Company: Renesas

Headquarters: Hitachinaka, Japan

Renesas is a global leader in embedded semiconductor solutions, providing high-quality products across automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT sectors. With over 22,000 employees in more than 30 countries, the company focuses on scalable solutions that enhance user experience and drive innovation while committed to sustainability and energy efficiency.