Neural AI
Principal Firmware Engineer
Apple
Tesla
Qualcomm
Intel
Western Digital
Seagate
The job description
Tech stack. Firmware platform strategy, device security architecture, multi-product firmware platforms, silicon vendor partnerships, engineering standards development, technical mentorship at scale, threat modeling
About the role
You will be the technical authority for firmware across the entire organization, setting the direction that shapes every connected device the company ships. Principal firmware engineers define how firmware gets built at scale: the shared platforms, the security architectures, the update systems, and the quality bars that every product team follows. You will resolve the highest-stakes technical bets on silicon selection, connectivity strategy, and security posture, while developing the senior engineers around you into architects in their own right. Your influence compounds across product generations in a way individual contributions cannot: every platform decision you make echoes through years of products.
What you will achieve
- Define the multi-year firmware platform strategy: common architectures, shared software components, and silicon partnerships that accelerate every product line simultaneously
- Resolve organization-level technical bets on connectivity standards, security architectures, and RTOS versus bare-metal strategy with clear, documented, defensible rationale
- Drive device security posture across the entire portfolio: threat modeling practice, secure boot deployment, vulnerability management, and incident response readiness
- Raise firmware quality org-wide through shared platform testing infrastructure, enforced coding standards, and architecture reviews that teams genuinely adopt
- Develop senior and staff firmware engineers into recognized technical leaders through sustained mentorship, sponsorship, and high-stakes project opportunities
What you will bring
Must-haves
- 12+ years of firmware or embedded systems engineering with multiple shipped product generations at significant commercial scale
- Demonstrated organization-wide technical influence through firmware platforms, security architectures, or engineering standards adopted across many teams
- Expert-level understanding of embedded systems: real-time design, low-power architecture, wireless systems, and defense-in-depth device security
- Experience making technology strategy decisions that balance technical merit, component cost, business risk, and time-to-market across product portfolios
- Track record of developing senior engineers into staff and principal roles through deliberate, sustained, multi-year mentorship
- Exceptional communication abilities: writing architecture documents, presenting strategy to executives, and aligning diverse hardware and software stakeholders
- BS in Electrical or Computer Engineering; advanced degree preferred for technical credibility at this level
Nice-to-haves
- Significant patent portfolio in embedded systems, wireless communications, or device security with real commercial impact
- Standards body participation such as Matter, OCF, or Bluetooth SIG with published, adopted contributions
- Experience leading fleet-scale firmware security incident response under genuine operational pressure
- Industry recognition through conference keynotes, technical publications, or widely cited engineering work