Senior Manager, Firmware Development - Irvine, United States
Originally posted 21 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
The Senior Manager, Firmware Development leads a team of firmware engineers responsible for the design, development, integration, debug, and delivery of embedded firmware for complex storage products.
What you'll do
- Lead, develop, and retain a team of firmware engineers across architecture, design, implementation, integration, debug, and sustaining activities. - Drive firmware development using engineering practices such as design reviews, coding standards, defect management, test strategy, and release readiness. - Provide technical and organizational leadership for embedded firmware development, including data structures, software algorithms, drivers, control paths, and hardware interfaces. - Guide the team in debugging complex issues across firmware, hardware, system, and platform interactions, supporting root-cause analysis and corrective actions. - Partner cross-functionally with ASIC, hardware, systems, validation, manufacturing, reliability, and program teams to deliver complete solutions. - Manage resource planning, work allocation, hiring, onboarding, and succession planning for the firmware organization.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field. - 10+ years of embedded or firmware development experience, with experience leading engineering teams. - 3+ years of people management or equivalent leadership experience, including performance management, coaching, and career development. - Strong technical foundation in embedded systems and firmware development using C/C++. - Hands-on experience with low-level software, device control, drivers, and hardware/software integration. - Demonstrated experience leading teams through full product development cycles from concept through release and sustaining support.
Nice to have
- Advanced degree in a related technical discipline. - Experience with storage, data-path, controller, or other performance-sensitive embedded systems. - Experience with firmware development tools, lab debug environments, emulation, simulation, and automated test frameworks. - Working knowledge of structured development methodologies, CI/CD practices, code review discipline, and quality-oriented release processes. - Experience operating in global, cross-functional product development organizations.
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 56-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
736
|
Median days open
56 d
|
Median salary
$169k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Western Digital | All employers we track in this specialty (736 roles · 85 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 19 | 736 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 48 | 6296 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 76 d | 56 d (+20 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $169k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 123 open roles · median 51 d
- AMD · 63 open roles · median 39 d
- Micron Technology · 63 open roles · median 89 d
- NVIDIA · 54 open roles · median 62 d
- Lattice Semiconductor · 48 open roles · median 42 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 30 open roles · median 34 d
How we counted: 736 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 85 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 21 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.