Principal Engineer, Embedded Firmware

Principal Engineer, Embedded Firmware

Location: San Jose, CA

Ayar Labs is a pioneer in electro-photonic chip technology, revolutionizing interconnect solutions for the most demanding applications. We are seeking a visionary Principal Firmware Engineer to lead our firmware development efforts and shape the next generation of high-performance, reliable, and scalable embedded systems. As a technical leader, you will be instrumental in defining firmware architecture, driving innovation, and mentoring a talented team of engineers. This role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact on the future of data center infrastructure and high-performance computing.

Essential Functions:

• Architect the Future: Define and own the firmware architecture for our complex electronic-photonic chips and multi-chip package systems, ensuring robustness, scalability, and performance optimization.
• Drive Innovation: Lead the research and development of cutting-edge firmware solutions to address emerging challenges and push the boundaries of electro-photonic technology.
• Lead Technical Execution: Oversee and participate in the design, development, and optimization of firmware for controlling electronic-photonic chips with multiple high-speed SerDes, focusing on performance, power efficiency, and reliability.
• Mentor and Empower: Guide and mentor a team of firmware engineers, providing technical expertise, fostering collaboration, and empowering them to deliver exceptional results.
• Champion Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with multidisciplinary teams, including hardware, software, validation and systems engineers, to drive system-level integration and ensure seamless compatibility with high-performance computing infrastructures.

Basic Qualifications:

• Master's or Ph.D. in Electrical/Computer Engineering or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in embedded firmware development, with a proven track record of technical leadership and successful project delivery.
• Deep understanding of electro-optics systems design and its implications for firmware development.
• Familiarity with advanced control algorithms applied to photonics.
• Experience with embedded firmware development for FPGA/SOC.
• Expert-level proficiency in C/C++ programming, along with experience in high-level languages (e.g., Python).
• Mastery of embedded systems concepts, including real-time operating systems (RTOS), bare-metal firmware, and multi-threaded programming.
• Extensive experience in firmware architecture design, system-level integration, and performance optimization.
• Strong understanding of high-speed SerDes, timing-critical systems, and hardware-software co-design.
• Knowledge of signal processing, digital communication protocols, and error correction techniques.
• Understanding of data center ecosystems and interconnect standards.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire technical teams, providing clear direction, mentorship, and fostering a collaborative environment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively convey complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.
• Proven track record of influencing technical direction and driving innovation within organizations.

Pay Range is $175K to $235K

About Ayar Labs:

At Ayar Labs we’re about to revolutionize computing by moving data with light. We’re unleashing processing power for artificial intelligence, high performance computing, cloud and telecommunications by removing the bottlenecks created by today’s electrical I/O - making it possible to continue scaling computing system performance. Ayar Labs is the first to deliver an optical I/O solution that combines in-package optical I/O chiplets and multi-wavelength remote light sources to replace traditional electrical I/O. This silicon photonics-based I/O solution enables chips to communicate with each other from millimeters to kilometers, to deliver orders of magnitude improvements in latency, bandwidth density, and power consumption.

With our strong collaborations with industry leaders and government, our deep ties to MIT and UC Berkeley, and our commitment to hiring the best engineers in photonics and electronics, joining our team gives you the opportunity to collaborate with renowned experts on challenging, paradigm-shifting work.

We are passionate about delivering in-package optical I/O at scale, leveraging the strength of our patent portfolio and our team of leading interdisciplinary experts. We believe that deep cross-collaboration between teams facilitated by honest, open debate is the best way to drive innovation and achieve big wins. Join our team and experience the possibilities.

Ayar Labs is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and is strongly committed to all policies which will afford equal opportunity employment to all qualified persons without regard to age, national origin, race, ethnicity, creed, gender, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.