Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer (Networking PAM4 DSP)

Location: Santa Clara, CA, United States; onsite role. Applicants must be eligible to access U.S. export-controlled technology and software; export license review may apply.

Expected base pay: $154,680–$231,700 per annum, plus eligibility for bonus and equity plans.

Company

hirify.global develops semiconductor solutions and optical digital signal processing products that support enterprise, cloud, AI, carrier, and data-center infrastructure.

What you will do

• Lead the architecture, design, development, and testing of embedded C firmware for complex DSP hardware running on a RISC-V-based multicore MCU.
• Serve as technical lead for a product and guide 2–8 software developers through development, integration, testing, and production.
• Drive firmware development for RX/TX signal processing, FEC, PLL/FLL, reference generation, thermal monitoring, and related DSP control blocks.
• Lead reviews of firmware architecture, API design, system integration, and sequence diagrams derived from MSA, OIF, CMIS, and customer specifications.
• Resolve difficult hardware and field issues to root cause while coordinating with Hardware, Systems, Test, Validation, QA, Applications Engineering, Marketing, and customer-support teams.
• Coordinate milestones, Agile sprint planning, backlog prioritization, customer bring-up, feature delivery, and technical discussions with tier-1 customers.

Requirements

• Experience developing memory-constrained embedded C/C++ firmware.
• Experience as a Software Team Lead or Technical Lead on embedded projects.
• Experience with architecture design and development, code reviews, testing, and delivery through customer volume production.
• Understanding of embedded SoC and microcontroller architecture, memory-mapped hardware interfaces, GPIOs, ISRs, and related concepts; RISC-V experience is advantageous.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and ability to collaborate in a large cross-functional organization.
• Strong problem-solving and customer-debugging skills using real hardware in a laboratory environment.
• Experience using revision-control and defect-tracking systems.
• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.

Nice to have

• Experience with SERDES, IM-DD or coherent DSP, Ethernet or PCIe PHYs, and optical-module software.
• Experience designing, developing, and debugging software state machines, transitions, context saving, and error handling.
• Experience with mixed-signal control and monitoring, PID control, and feedback loops.
• Experience with bare-metal systems, RTOS, device drivers, or the Linux kernel.
• Familiarity with advanced compiler options, preferably Clang or GCC.
• Proficiency in C and Python, with knowledge of Git, Linux, makefiles, GDB, IDEs, and Bash.
• Familiarity with digital verification flows, FPGA emulation, and hardware languages such as Verilog.
• Familiarity with laboratory equipment including oscilloscopes, power supplies, PNAs, and ONTs.
• Understanding of Ethernet networking through the OSI model, especially PHY through data-link layers.
• Familiarity with forward error correction, PCS framing, PMA/PMD, PRBS, and other PHY traffic schemes.
• Understanding of signal-processing concepts including histograms, BER, SNR, sampling phase, Shannon limit, impulse and frequency response, and FFT.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on optical DSP products deployed in cloud data centers and AI clusters worldwide.
• Collaborate with geographically distributed, cross-functional engineering teams across the full product lifecycle.
• Benefits support financial well-being, family support, mental and physical health, and recognition.
• Benefits include an employee stock purchase plan with a two-year lookback, family-support programs, mental-health resources, recognition awards, bonus eligibility, and equity plans.

Hiring process

• Interviews are intended to assess individual experience, thought process, and communication in real time.
• AI tools, transcription apps, automated note-taking bots, and real-time answer generators are prohibited during interviews; unauthorized use may result in disqualification.