Senior Principal Engineer - FW/SW Development

Architect and implement embedded firmware, boot code, and runtime software for connectivity ASICs across PCIe, CXL, and Ethernet.

Originally posted 5 November 2026 by the employer.

About the role

Astera Labs is seeking a Senior Principal Engineer - FW/SW Development to architect and develop firmware and software for connectivity solutions across PCIe, CXL, and Ethernet.

What you'll do

• Architect and develop embedded firmware for connectivity ASICs, including boot code, initialization sequences, and runtime firmware.
• Design and implement host-side software, drivers, and SDK components for customer platform integration.
• Partner with ASIC design and verification teams to define hardware-firmware interfaces and co-design features.
• Establish firmware and software development processes, coding standards, and CI/CD practices across the engineering organization.
• Drive technical decisions and developments in firmware update mechanisms, telemetry, RAS features, and manageability frameworks.
• Lead design and code reviews while mentoring engineers across multiple teams.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in firmware or software development for semiconductor or systems companies.
• Proficiency in C and C++ for embedded and systems-level programming.
• Experience developing firmware for ARM-based SoCs or custom ASIC platforms.
• Deep understanding of hardware-software interfaces, register programming, and low-level debug techniques.
• Experience with high-speed interconnect protocols such as PCIe, CXL, or Ethernet at the firmware/driver level.

Nice to have

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience with RTOS-based and bare-metal firmware development environments.
• Proficiency in Python for automation, tooling, and test development.
• Familiarity with Linux kernel development, device drivers, or platform firmware (UEFI/BIOS).
• Experience in data center, AI/ML infrastructure, or high-performance computing domains.
• Track record of leading firmware/software efforts from architecture through production across multiple product generations.

Skills: embedded firmware, PCIe, CXL, boot code, C++, ASIC

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