Principal 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.

Principal 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 organizations high performance and quality standards.

What Youll do:

• Gather requirements, study designs, develop device interface functions and turn 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 Analog Design, ASIC / Digital Design, Digital Verification, software and systems engineers to meet performance goals
• Participate in design reviews
• Develop architecture documents and design specifications
• Translating bring up and validation requirements into efficient C/C++ firmware code
• 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
• Planning and developing test cases that can be run in an automated regression
• Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in the UCIe standard, semiconductor industry, and incorporate relevant innovations into our processes
• 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, review waveforms and RTL to fix sequencing issues
• 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

What You ll Need

• BS or MS in Computer Science/Electrical/Computer engineering or a related field
• Proficient in C/C++ and Python
• 15+ 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 SystemVerilog
• 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, PCIe, USB, NVME, 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, FreeRTOS, ThreadX
• Experience working with Xilinx, Zed, MicroZed
• Hardware hands-on and debugging experience, such as Power, SI, EMC validation and tuning
• 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.