Senior Staff Engineer, Firmware Engineering - Santa Clara, CA, United States
Originally posted 22 July 2026 by the employer.
Develop embedded firmware on RISC-V-based multi-core MCUs controlling proprietary optical DSP data paths.
About the role
As a Senior Staff Firmware Engineer, you will own the software architecture, development, and testing of embedded C firmware for integrated component platforms featuring high-speed silicon photonics, amplifiers, and controller ASICs with proprietary DSPs. The firmware executes on a RISC-V-based multi-core MCU to manage DSP data paths, supporting products from inception through high-volume manufacturing.
What you'll do
- Design, implement, test, and maintain embedded C firmware running on RISC-V-based multi-core MCUs to control proprietary DSP data paths. - Collaborate with hardware and systems teams on requirements, schematics, and hardware validation, leading chip bring-up efforts globally. - Lead hardware-software debug and root-cause analysis using JTAG, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers. - Develop customer-facing C SDKs and Python-based GUIs for in-field control, status monitoring, and debug. - Optimize firmware for performance, reliability, and power consumption across multi-core MCU architectures. - Establish unit testing, automated regression infrastructure, and functional specifications across frequent internal and external firmware releases.
What you'll need
- BS in Computer Science, Electrical/Software Engineering, or a related field with 5+ years of experience, or an MS with 2–3 years in memory-constrained embedded C/C++ firmware development. - Technical ownership experience spanning embedded project architecture, design, code reviews, and delivery through customer volume production. - Experience with microprocessor architectures including ARM or RISC-V, along with RTOS, memory-mapped hardware interfaces, GPIOs, ISRs, and interrupt processing. - Embedded device driver development experience with communication protocols such as SPI, I2C, MDIO, and UART. - Experience writing control firmware for CDR, Flash/EEPROM, Laser Driver, or TEC Controller hardware. - Expert C and Python programming skills, alongside hands-on hardware debugging using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG.
Nice to have
- Experience with SERDES, IM-DD/Coherent DSP, Ethernet/PCIe PHYs, or optical module software. - Experience with mixed-signal control and monitoring, PID/feedback loop control, bare-metal development, or Linux kernel drivers. - Familiarity with digital verification test flows, FPGA emulation, and hardware description languages such as Verilog. - Understanding of Ethernet networking from the OSI model (PHY up to data link layer), FEC, PCS framing, PMA/PMD, and PRBS traffic schemes. - Familiarity with lab equipment such as power supplies, PNAs, and ONTs.
This role has been open 148 days — well above the 54-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
765
|
Median days open
54 d
|
Median salary
$169k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Marvell Technology | All employers we track in this specialty (765 roles · 84 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 24 | 765 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 79 | 6277 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 52 d | 54 d (−2 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $169k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 126 open roles · median 53 d
- Micron Technology · 65 open roles · median 87 d
- AMD · 63 open roles · median 39 d
- NVIDIA · 58 open roles · median 57 d
- Lattice Semiconductor · 45 open roles · median 44 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 36 open roles · median 31 d
How we counted: 765 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 84 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 24 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.