Firmware Engineer

Position Summary, Responsibilities, and Expectations:

• Own the design and decision-making processes for embedded hardware firmware to ensure timely delivery of next-generation products, meeting product and marketing requirements.
• Provide creative, innovative solutions to complex engineering challenges, from hardware design to firmware implementation.
• Collaborate closely with software engineers, mechanical engineers, product managers, designers, manufacturing teams, and external suppliers to ensure seamless integration and successful product development and launch.
• Maintain clear and regular communication across all teams, providing status updates, reporting risks, and managing change control throughout the development cycle.
• Lead troubleshooting and resolution efforts for hardware and firmware issues within embedded systems.
• Prioritize tasks, deliverables, and issues, while managing resource constraints and responding to change requests in line with scheduling needs.
• Support the EVT (Engineering Verification Testing), DVT (Design Verification Testing), OOBE (Out of Box Experience), and regulatory teams throughout the product development process.
• Contribute to cost-reduction initiatives through firmware and hardware optimization.
• Support testing, validation, and verification of embedded systems and firmware functionality.
• Review EE design documentation (e.g., schematics, BOMs) and create firmware design specifications.
• Participate in cross-functional meetings, including exit reviews, core team sessions, and escalation meetings.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Excellent proficiency and strong attention to detail in embedded hardware firmware design, development, and documentation.
• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, and prioritization skills.
• Excellent ability to write bare-metal firmware for resource-constrained environments.
• In-depth knowledge of MCUs, specifically 32-bit ARM Cortex or similar architectures, as well as legacy 8-bit microcontrollers (e.g., 8051, Freescale, Atmel, Cypress, etc.).
• In-depth knowledge of various communication protocols such as USB 3.0 (including Alt mode), RS485, and other serial interfaces.
• Strong proficiency in C, C++, or assembly for writing efficient, hardware-specific firmware code and firmware test tools.
• Strong proficiency in interfacing microcontrollers with sensors and (especially) displays and other peripherals via SPI, I2C, UART, MIPI, DSI, etc.
• Strong understanding of memory hierarchies and allocation techniques as well as knowledge of memory constrains in embedded systems.
• Strong proficiency in knowledge of bootloaders, secure firmware updates, and flash memory management.
• Strong skills in communicating, writing, reviewing, and approving firmware specifications, documentation, and design validation procedures.
• Proficiency with versioning tools and excellent employment of good software engineering practices.
• Proficiency with IDEs and compilers
• Ability to troubleshoot and resolve embedded system issues, including firmware bugs, hardware faults, and interface problems.
• Ability to conduct firmware unit tests and system integration testing for embedded solutions.
• Experience with embedded debugging tools, such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG debuggers.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a relevant field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 3+ years of industry experience in embedded hardware firmware development.
• Experience working with OEM/ODM suppliers and managing firmware release cycles is a plus.
• Experience in working with manufacturing environments and factory floor requirements is a plus.
• Experience with PDM/PLM systems is a plus.
• Project management experience is a plus.
• Passion for PC hardware and gaming is a plus.