Principal FW/SW Engineer

The role

You will own embedded firmware across analog connectivity and Ethernet retimer platforms. This includes hardware abstraction, calibration, link management, diagnostics, validation, and customer deployment.

What you will do

• Own the embedded firmware stack from hardware abstraction to customer-facing APIs.
• Design firmware for adaptive equalization, gain control, calibration, link training, and thermal management.
• Architect control algorithms and state machines for analog and high-speed interfaces.
• Define software quality gates, validation criteria, and release practices.
• Debug firmware behavior across Ethernet configurations and failure modes.
• Investigate register accesses, SDK behavior, and link state machines.
• Partner with system validation to develop test plans and automate characterization flows.
• Support customer bring-up, field issue triage, and deployment readiness.
• Set technical direction and lead architecture and tradeoff discussions.
• Mentor engineers and help build the team through recruiting and onboarding.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 8–12 years of experience developing embedded firmware or software for resource-constrained systems.
• Strong embedded C/C++ skills.
• Deep knowledge of microcontroller architecture, memory-mapped peripherals, interrupt handling, and bare-metal firmware.
• Hands-on experience with Ethernet or high-speed connectivity devices, including Layer 1 PHYs, SERDES, retimers, gearboxes, NICs, switches, or related systems.
• Solid understanding of physical-layer behavior, link state machines, register-level debug, and hardware/software integration.
• Experience with feedback systems, adaptive algorithms, calibration, or tuning of analog or mixed-signal subsystems.
• Proficiency with Microsoft-based development environments and Linux command-line tools, including GCC or Clang, Make, Bash, GDB, and Git.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Systematic debugging skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment with ambiguity.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• Python experience for test automation, debug tooling, data analysis, or lab workflows.
• Hands-on experience with Jenkins and CI/CD infrastructure.
• Familiarity with mixed-signal systems and analog signal paths, including ADC/DAC interfaces, sensor readout, transimpedance amplifiers, transmit drivers, CTLE/DFE equalization, CDR/PLL circuits, or th
• Experience with retimer or gearbox firmware, SDK/API development, optical modules or pluggable optics, high-speed copper connectivity, Ethernet PHY subsystems, FEC, PMA, or signal-integrity analysis.
• Experience using oscilloscopes, BERTs, logic analyzers, and other lab equipment.
• Familiarity with FPGA emulation, pre-silicon validation, RTOS, device drivers, coroutines, mentoring, or recruiting.

Benefits

• Discretionary bonus
• Incentives
• Benefits

About the company

Astera Labs provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. The company’s Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates semiconductor-based technologies with the COSMOS software suite.