Role Overview
We are seeking a Principal Firmware Engineer for Controls & Hardware Design to serve as a technical authority for the architecture, design, and delivery of embedded control hardware and hardware/firmware interfaces used in advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment. This role owns control system hardware strategy, drives complex design decisions, and partners closely with embedded firmware teams to deliver reliable, highperformance control platforms deployed in production environments.
This position is suited for a deeply experienced engineer with demonstrated leadership in embedded control systems, microprocessorbased platforms, and hardware/firmware integration, capable of influencing architecture and design direction across multiple programs.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the architecture and design of embedded firmware for control hardware platforms
- Define and implement embedded firmware strategies, standards, and best practices that enable robust firmware development and longterm platform scalability
- Familiar with complex electronic systems incorporating microprocessors, microcontrollers, ADCs, DACs, and mixedsignal circuitry optimized for embedded firmware execution
- Familiarity with reading schematics
- Lead firmware bringup, validation, and integration, including early firmware execution, board support validation, and interface verification
- Troubleshoot complex systemlevel issues at the hardware, firmware, and controls interface, spanning analog, digital, and mixedsignal domains
- Partner closely with embedded hardware, software, mechanical, and systems engineers to ensure cohesive and predictable control system behavior
- Provide technical leadership through design reviews, mentoring, and crossfunctional collaboration with firmware and controls teams
- Guide prototype development, risk mitigation, and design tradeoffs across the full product lifecycle, with emphasis on firmware enablement and maintainability
- Author and review highquality technical documentation, including hardware/firmware interface definitions, design rationale, and system specifications
- Occasional travel to support development, system integration, or escalated technical investigations
Required Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Master's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related engineering discipline
- 10+ years of progressive experience designing embedded control and hardware systems, with demonstrated technical leadership
Core Technical Expertise
- Embedded firmware development in C
- Experience with Linux
- Recognized expertise in embedded firmwareand control system design
- Familiarity with microprocessor and microcontrollerbased architectures supporting embedded firmware
- Proven ability to debug and resolve complex firmwarelevel and hardware/firmware interaction issues
- Deep experience designing electronic boards incorporating microcontrollers, ADCs, DACs, and supporting circuitry
- Solid understanding of embedded systems environments, realtime behavior, and hardware/firmware interfaces
- Expert use of oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and electronic test equipment
- Exceptional attention to detail, technical judgment, and documentation rigor
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with embedded hardware or a strong working knowledge of embedded hardware development, bringup, and debugging
- Experience in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry (preferred, not required)
- Control hardware experience for auto RF matching networks and/or RF generators
- Experience with Texas Instruments Sitara processors
- Experience with Analog Devices Blackfin processors
- Experience with Xilinx Spartan FPGAs
- Background in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering applied to complex, realtime embedded control systems