Principal Firmware Engineer (FPGA) (m/f/d) – Medical Devices

Location: Erlangen, Germany; residence within commuting distance or willingness to relocate is required

Company

hirify.global is a global eye-care company, with WaveLight GmbH developing and producing laser and diagnostic systems for ophthalmic surgery.

What you will do

• Lead FPGA firmware architecture, requirements definition, and technical design for next-generation ophthalmic medical device platforms.
• Develop and maintain VHDL and/or SystemVerilog firmware, including timing-critical video processing pipelines and deterministic control logic.
• Drive hardware-firmware integration with system, hardware, software, and verification teams.
• Define and execute firmware verification and validation strategies, including coding standards, linting rules, testing frameworks, and quality gates.
• Support CI/CD workflows, development automation, AI-enabled engineering practices, and continuous improvement while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.
• At least 7 years of FPGA and firmware development experience, including 2 or more years in a technical leadership role.
• Expert knowledge of FPGA architecture, digital design, and system-level firmware development.
• Advanced experience with VHDL and/or SystemVerilog and hands-on experience with Xilinx/AMD Zynq UltraScale+ SoC, AXI interconnect, PS/DDR integration, and Vivado.
• Experience leading distributed, cross-functional engineering teams and applying firmware verification, validation, and quality assurance methodologies.
• Fluent English and intermediate German are required.

Nice to have

• Experience in medical devices, automotive, aerospace, or other regulated and safety-critical industries.
• Experience with Yocto, QNX, OpenEmbedded, and Zynq UltraScale+ PS/PL co-development.
• Strong embedded systems and system-level architecture experience.
• Experience defining firmware strategies, influencing technical roadmaps, and leading complex hardware-firmware integration.
• Experience driving CI/CD adoption, engineering productivity improvements, and development process optimization.

Culture & Benefits

• Technical ownership and autonomy within a highly skilled global engineering team.
• Work on technology that supports surgeons and improves patients’ vision and quality of life.
• Challenging projects, professional growth opportunities, and a collaborative culture focused on innovation and continuous improvement.