Enablement Software Engineer - Santa Clara, California, United States of America
$211,800 - $317,800 USD yearly
Originally posted 7 April 2026 by the employer.
Develop solutions for custom CPUs across the Linux kernel, boot firmware, and low-level libraries.
About the role
As an Enablement Software Engineer, you will work within a distributed team to develop solutions for custom CPUs, focusing on the Linux kernel, boot firmware, and low-level libraries.
What you'll do
- Assist in defining future high-performance SoCs and platforms. - Collaborate with the performance team to identify hardware optimization areas. - Create optimizations and drivers for high-performance platforms. - Ensure existing operating systems run efficiently and identify opportunities for performance enhancements. - Develop solutions across the hardware/software interface to support performance, efficiency, and security.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field with 8+ years of software engineering experience (or Master's with 7+ years, or PhD with 6+ years). - 4+ years of work experience with programming languages such as C, C++, Java, or Python. - Proficiency in C, assembly language, and build systems. - Understanding of computer architecture concepts, including high-performance designs, weak memory models, server platforms, and the hardware/software interface. - Experience developing software virtual platforms, low-level boot firmware, and debugging tools in pre-silicon and on hardware. - Experience building to platform standards, including UEFI, ACPI, and SystemReady.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree in Engineering or Computer Science. - 10+ years of Linux kernel development experience. - 10+ years of experience building software stacks for high-performance systems.
Skills: Linux kernel, boot firmware, C, assembly language, UEFI
This role has been open 200 days — well above the 126-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Hardware Security
|
Open roles in category
26
|
Median days open
126 d
|
Median salary
—
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (26 roles · 10 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 8 | 26 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 735 | 6250 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 200 d | 126 d (+74 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | — |
Skills observed across this category: Linux kernel, boot firmware, C, assembly language, UEFI
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 8 open roles · median 199 d
- NVIDIA · 3 open roles · median 67 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 3 open roles · median 19 d
- STMicroelectronics · 3 open roles · median 39 d
- Alif Semiconductor · 2 open roles · median 121 d
- Ambiq Micro · 2 open roles · median 94 d
How we counted: 26 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Hardware Security) roles from 10 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.
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