Embedded Software Engineer - Milpitas, CA, United States
$136,300 - $231,700 USD yearly
Originally posted 1 May 2026 by the employer.
Take end-to-end technical ownership of embedded software and Linux kernel drivers for reticle inspection systems.
About the role
As an Embedded Software Engineer in the RAPID division, you will take technical ownership of embedded software powering reticle inspection systems, focusing on high-speed data capture pipelines and low-level hardware interfaces. You will work across Linux user space and kernel drivers, managing PCIe device bring-up and quasi real-time applications.
What you'll do
- Design, develop, and deploy embedded software and firmware for machine control in semiconductor inspection systems, building quasi real-time applications in C/C++ on real-time Linux or VxWorks. - Design and implement software for system control, high-speed data acquisition, image processing, and hardware interactions spanning user-space and kernel-space partitions. - Develop and debug Linux kernel drivers and user-space components for custom hardware, covering PCIe device enumeration and bring-up, DMA, interrupt handling, and memory-mapped I/O. - Partner with mechanical, systems, electrical, optics/opto-mech, algorithms, and applications teams to deliver integrated solutions across development, testing, and field troubleshooting. - Troubleshoot complex system-level issues across hardware, kernel, and user space to optimize high-throughput and low-latency data paths. - Define and execute test plans to evaluate subsystem performance using modern practices including Agile, CI/CD, code reviews, and automated testing.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree with 5+ years of related experience, Master's degree with 3+ years of related experience, or a Doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field. - Strong C/C++ programming skills with object-oriented design and testable design fundamentals. - Practical experience with Linux or RTOS environments, multi-threading, synchronization, and Linux kernel concepts such as process vs. interrupt context, basic memory management, and sysfs/debugfs. - Hands-on experience developing and debugging Linux kernel drivers, device-tree or ACPI concepts, and PCIe fundamentals including configuration space, BARs, MSI/MSI-X interrupts, and DMA. - Experience with communication protocols including Serial (RS-232), Ethernet, EtherCAT, and TCP/IP sockets/network programming. - Software debugging and troubleshooting skills for performance-critical systems.
Nice to have
- Laboratory experience with electrical, mechanical, and optical measurement instruments. - Experience in semiconductor fab operations or manufacturing technology. - Linux administration and debugging tools knowledge such as perf, ftrace, trace-cmd, and gdb, alongside UML modeling familiarity. - Experience with high-speed I/O subsystems, PCIe endpoints/switches, DMA engines, and IOMMU concepts. - Scripting knowledge in Python or another scripting language. - Project planning and management skills.
Skills: embedded software, firmware, real-time operating systems, device drivers
This role has been open 176 days — well above the 55-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
764
|
Median days open
55 d
|
Median salary
$169k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | KLA Corporation | All employers we track in this specialty (764 roles · 84 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 6 | 764 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 206 | 6277 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 111 d | 55 d (+56 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $169k |
Skills observed across this category: embedded software, firmware, real-time operating systems, device drivers
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 126 open roles · median 54 d
- Micron Technology · 65 open roles · median 88 d
- AMD · 63 open roles · median 40 d
- NVIDIA · 60 open roles · median 58 d
- Lattice Semiconductor · 45 open roles · median 45 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 36 open roles · median 32 d
How we counted: 764 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 84 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 25 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.