Microsoft
Principal Firmware Engineer
$143K–$304K
Mountain View, CA +3 · On-site · Principal · Full-time · Posted Oct 23, 2026
- Location
- Mountain View, CA
Redmond, WA
Austin, TX
Raleigh, NC - Experience
- Minimum: 3+ years with a doctorate, 6+ years with a master's degree, or 8+ years with a bachelor's degree; or equivalent experience. Preferred: 12+ years in firmware, embedded systems, or SoC development.
- Education
- Doctorate, master's, or bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field; or equivalent experience.
About the job
Leads the architecture, development, bring-up, debugging, and validation of firmware libraries for Microsoft AI accelerators and cloud silicon platforms.
What you'll do
- Define firmware architecture and strategy for HBM, ANC, Compute, and SoC infrastructure subsystems across silicon programs.
- Develop C/C++ firmware libraries and frameworks, and lead first-silicon bring-up and root-cause analysis.
- Provide technical leadership across teams, define verification plans, and mentor engineers.
What they ask for
- Doctorate in a related field and 3+ years of technical engineering experience, or a master's degree and 6+ years, or a bachelor's degree and 8+ years, or equivalent experience.
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements, including the Microsoft Cloud Background Check.
- Proficient understanding of memory and IO subsystems for server-class SoCs.
- Proven experience as a technical lead for complex silicon or firmware programs.
Nice to have
- 12+ years of experience in firmware, embedded systems, or SoC development.
- Expert-level programming skills in C/C++ and Python.
Pay
USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year (base salary); USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year (base salary)
Tools
C/C++, Python, JTAG, Lauterbach TRACE32, Zebu, HAPS, Palladium, Veloce
AI focus
Develops and leads firmware for AI accelerator silicon and Microsoft AI accelerator platforms.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative