Embedded Systems Engineer - CA, San Jose, United States
Originally posted 9 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
Own embedded designs for post-silicon system-level validation and board bring-up for FPGA and SoC-based platforms. You will write firmware and software to take new boards from first power-on to a stable, validated platform across ARM and RISC-V cores.
What you'll do
- Define and drive the silicon-to-solution validation strategy, including plans, coverage, regression, and signoffs. - Bring up baremetal and embedded Linux to exercise the full system, writing firmware and low-level system software for on-chip ARM (APU/RPU) or RISC-V cores. - Build and customize embedded Linux images using the Yocto-based Embedded Design Flow, including BSP configuration, device trees, kernel/rootfs tuning, custom recipes, and layers. - Own new board bring-up from first power-on through a stable platform by developing scripts, baremetal code, and debug flows. - Develop and automate validation tests and applications in baremetal and Linux environments to scale regression coverage. - Debug complex issues spanning silicon, firmware, drivers, and the operating system in partnership with architecture, design, and board teams.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science. - Hands-on embedded systems and hardware validation experience. - Experience taking a new board from power-on through boot and interface bring-up, debugging clocking, reset, power, and hardware issues on the bench. - C/C++ programming experience for baremetal and Linux-based embedded systems on ARM or RISC-V cores. - Experience with embedded Linux flows, including building and customizing images with BSPs, device trees, and custom recipes or layers. - Experience validating interfaces such as Ethernet, USB, SPI, I²C, UART, and CAN.
Nice to have
- Linux kernel-mode driver knowledge. - Hands-on experience with AMD/Xilinx embedded Linux flows using the Yocto-based Embedded Design Flow. - Working knowledge of AMD/Xilinx Vitis and EDF environments. - Automation experience using Python, Tcl, Shell, and Makefiles, alongside Git and structured CI/regression workflows.
Skills: embedded Linux, baremetal, board bring-up, device trees, Yocto
This role has been open 13 days — well below the 55-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
755
|
Median days open
55 d
|
Median salary
$169k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | AMD | All employers we track in this specialty (755 roles · 85 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 62 | 755 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 400 | 6298 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 40 d | 55 d (−15 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $169k |
Skills observed across this category: embedded Linux, baremetal, board bring-up, device trees, Yocto
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 125 open roles · median 52 d
- Micron Technology · 63 open roles · median 90 d
- AMD (this employer) · 62 open roles · median 39 d
- NVIDIA · 56 open roles · median 59 d
- Lattice Semiconductor · 47 open roles · median 42 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 36 open roles · median 29 d
How we counted: 755 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 85 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 22 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.