Embedded & Firmware Engineer
Engineers in this role develop and optimize firmware that powers AI infrastructure hardware—from baseboard management controllers in data centers to motor controllers in robotics systems to camera sensor drivers in vision platforms. They work at the boundary between silicon and software, writing low-level C/C++ code to manage power, thermal systems, sensors, and real-time control, often using RTOS environments and debugging with JTAG and oscilloscopes. This work distinguishes itself from higher-level embedded software engineering by its focus on board bring-up, hardware validation, and tight hardware-firmware integration during product bringup. These engineers typically sit in hardware-adjacent teams within AI companies—working closely with silicon teams, hardware engineers, and systems architects to ensure new AI chips and platforms function reliably at scale in production environments.
Skills
What companies are looking for in this role.
Designing and implementing low-level firmware architecture across hardware platforms
Conducting hardware bring-up and platform validation including bootloaders, kernel configuration, and device tree management
Debugging embedded systems using hardware tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, and GDB
Developing real-time embedded software for bare-metal systems and RTOS environments
Implementing low-level communication protocol drivers for buses and interfaces such as CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, and Ethernet
Performing root-cause analysis and debugging cross-layer issues spanning hardware, firmware, and operating systems
Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for firmware compilation, testing, signing, and release
Optimizing firmware performance including power consumption, memory usage, and latency profiles
Leading hardware-software integration and validation across multiple hardware revisions
Developing firmware for sensor integration, power management, and thermal control subsystems
Designing telemetry, monitoring, and observability systems for fleet operations and field diagnostics
Writing automation scripts and tools for test automation, hardware calibration, and data management
Reading and interpreting hardware schematics and design documentation
Managing secure boot, firmware signing, attestation, and secure firmware update mechanisms
Building custom operating system images and managing Linux kernel integration for embedded platforms
Architecting BMC and platform management firmware for data center infrastructure
Implementing safety-critical and reliability-focused embedded software following industry safety standards
Developing motor control firmware including field-oriented control algorithms for BLDC motors
Integrating firmware with higher-level frameworks and middleware such as ROS and distributed data services
Developing firmware for AI accelerator and specialized compute hardware platforms
Implementing firmware validation and test automation frameworks for complex multi-component systems
Participating in code reviews and maintaining high standards for code quality and maintainability
Communicating technical decisions and trade-offs to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
Mentoring junior engineers and building high-performing firmware engineering teams
Collaborating with ODM and OEM partners to align on firmware requirements and technical architecture
Technology
The tools and technologies that define this role.
Open Jobs
20 open Embedded & Firmware Engineer jobs across 8 companies.
Other Physical Systems roles
Engineers designing and building electronic hardware, electrical systems, power systems, and signal chains. Covers circuit design, PCB layout, power delivery, RF/antenna design, and signal integrity.
Engineers working on integrated circuit and system-on-chip design, including RTL design, physical design, silicon verification, ASIC/FPGA development, SoC architecture, and advanced packaging.
Engineers building physical robotic systems — manipulation, locomotion, motion planning, controls, perception for physical interaction, and autonomous navigation. Covers the full robotics stack from hardware integration through control software. Distinguished from Simulation Engineer (research_science) which builds virtual environments for training AI.
Engineers ensuring the safety of physical systems through functional safety analysis, hazard assessment, system safety engineering, and verification & validation of safety-critical systems.
Technicians who install, cable, commission, and maintain hardware in data center environments. Covers structured cabling, hardware rack-and-stack, field deployment, and physical network infrastructure.