Staff Engineer - Firmware

Alphawave Semi enables tomorrow’s future by accelerating the critical data communication at the heart of our digital world – from seamless video streaming to AI to the metaverse and much more. Our technology powers product innovation in the most data-demanding industries today, including data centers, networking, storage, artificial intelligence, 5G wireless infrastructure, and autonomous vehicles. Customers partner with us for mission-critical data communication, our innovative technologies, and our proven track record. Together, we enable the next generation of digital technology.

Staff Firmware Engineer

We’re building the world’s most advanced die-to-die (D2D) semiconductor IP and chiplet solutions for the chiplet ecosystem. With the recent advance driven by the UCIe consortium, Alphawave is looking to push forward Moore’s law by taking advantage of chiplet standardization and interconnect technology.

We are looking for a Principal Firmware Engineer to join our dynamic Central R&D Software team and lead the firmware development of our UCIe chiplets portfolio. This critical role includes everything from pre-silicon to post-silicon stages and entails implementing and utilizing software/firmware/embedded industry best practices. The ideal candidate will have experience driving firmware definition, architecture, and development starting from the RTL/Digital design phase with EDA tool/simulator integration all the way to the post silicon phase with board level bring up and debug. It is a collaborative role where you will need to work with Hardware/Systems/Software teams to drive requirements and successful chip bring up. You will also be working with firmware and embedded software engineers to drive code re-use throughout the organization, program managers to identify and work toward deadlines, and other cross functional teams as needed. This individual will be instrumental in building next generation chiplet IP and semiconductors that meet our organization's high performance and quality standards.

What You'll do:

• Gather requirements, studying high level designs, developing device interface functions and turning small building blocks into higher level firmware system design

• Work with multi-functional teams to come up with the detailed bring up and validation requirements, collaborating with ASIC / Digital Design, Digital Verification, software and systems engineers to meet performance goals

• Communicate requirements and coordinate execution with multiple teams

• Translating bring up and validation requirements into efficient C/C++ firmware code, software organization as applicable.

• Bonus if you have experience developing drivers for multiple devices at the PCB level to interact with whole systems

• Oversee the entire firmware lifecycle for UCIe chiplets, from pre-silicon design to post-silicon validation and optimization

• Developing for test and debug to help guide hardware design decisions for future product iterations

• Implement and utilize best practices in the software industry to ensure high-quality firmware designs

• Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in the semiconductor industry, and incorporate relevant innovations into our processes

• Develop and document firmware and hardware design specifications and decisions

• Mentor junior engineers, promote team building, and strive for continuous improvement in processes and techniques

• Debug and root cause, document and drive issues (i.e. low level SW, silicon, HW, etc.) to closure

• Drive multi-functional teams and partners to address challenges seen during integration and bring-up, ensure chips are seamlessly brought up, validated, tested, and meets product and business requirements

• Demonstrate full ownership of assigned systems/components. Handle timelines and resolve project challenges in order to meet program timing

• Working with external vendors or customers to ensure requirements are met and releases are of high quality

• Planning and developing test cases which enhance reliability and release quality to internal and external stakeholders and ensuring they are continuously tested in regression

What You’ll Need

• BS or MS in Computer Science/Electrical/Computer engineering or a related field

• Proficient in C/C++, Python

• 10+ years of experience with embedded systems like ARM, RISCV, MIPS, etc. and strong programming skills. Working experience with low-level programming on bare metal, BIOS/UEFI firmware, Linux kernel, RTOS, device driver, etc.

• Familiarity with industry-standard EDA tools and methodologies used for digital verification

• Familiarity with hardware description languages (HDLs) such as Verilog and System Verilog

• Experience with SerDes, Ethernet and/or PCIe products and communication systems

• Hands-on experience in the lab with CPU, SoC, FPGA, MCU, and DSP component validation and developing tests and debug tools

• Knowledge of peripherals/protocols such as 1G/10G Ethernet, DDR, I2C, SPI/QSPI, MIPI/CSI, GMSL, A2B, I2S, TDM, LVDS, PCIe, USB, NVME, CAN, etc.

• Bring up and diagnostics experience with high-speed signals

• Experience creating error monitoring and Board/Interface configuration APIs

• Fluent with a variety of bring-up tools, like oscilloscope, JTAG debugger, I2C/SPI tools, etc.

• Strong organizational and communication skills, willingness to learn and confront technical challenges.

Nice to have:

• Experience with embedded linux development, Buildroot and Yocto, RTOSes like Zephyr and FreeRTOS

• Experience working with FPGAs, Xilinx, Zed, MicroZed

• Hardware hands-on and debugging experience, such as Power, SI, EMC validation and tuning

• Experience with Jira, Agile/Scrum, Confluence

• Open-source projects

"We have a flexible work environment to support and help employees thrive in personal and professional capacities"

As part of our commitment to the well-being and satisfaction of our employees, we have designed a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Competitive Compensation Package

• Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)

• Provisions to pursue advanced education from Premium Institute, eLearning content providers

• Medical Insurance and a cohort of Wellness Benefits

• Educational Assistance

• Advance Loan Assistance

• Office lunch & Snacks Facility

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Alphawave Semi is an equal opportunity employer, welcoming all applicants regardless of age, gender, race, disability, or other protected characteristics. We value diversity and provide accommodations during the recruitment process.