# Principal Firmware Engineer

**Company**: Synopsys
**Location**: Nepean, Ontario
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $146000-$219000
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology
**Ticker**: SNPS
**Wikidata**: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2303478

**Apply**: https://careers.synopsys.com/job/nepean/principal-firmware-engineer/44408/100812692224?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_4d32fa70-41c

## Description

Our Hardware Engineers at Synopsys are responsible for designing and developing cutting-edge semiconductor solutions. They work on intricate tasks such as chip architecture, circuit design, and verification to ensure the efficiency and reliability of semiconductor products. These engineers play a crucial role in advancing technology and enabling innovations in various industries.

As a Principal Firmware Engineer at Synopsys, you will develop and optimize firmware for DDR, LPDDR, and HBM memory interface PHY training sequences. You will profile compiled firmware at the instruction level to identify runtime bottlenecks and implement optimizations that improve training performance. You will analyze RTL waveforms and testchip data in the hardware lab to understand eye margin sensitivity and refine training algorithms.

Key responsibilities include:

- Developing and optimizing firmware for DDR, LPDDR, and HBM memory interface PHY training sequences

- Profiling compiled firmware at the instruction level to identify runtime bottlenecks and implementing optimizations

- Analyzing RTL waveforms and testchip data in the hardware lab to understand eye margin sensitivity and refine training algorithms

- Collaborating with firmware architecture to study JEDEC protocol specifications and proposing algorithmic improvements to training workflows

- Debugging complex hardware-software interaction issues across firmware, RTL, and physical silicon using lab equipment and simulation tools

- Exploring and prototyping how emerging modeling techniques could be applied to memory training workflows

- Mentoring engineers on the team, sharing knowledge of embedded firmware development, hardware debugging, and memory interface behavior

The impact you will have includes:

- Reducing training runtime for next-generation memory PHYs, directly improving customer time-to-market and system boot performance

- Improving training robustness and eye margin across process, voltage, and temperature corners, resulting in higher yield and reliability for customer designs

- Influencing the architecture of future PHY training algorithms by bringing fresh perspectives grounded in real hardware behavior

- Accelerating team capability by mentoring engineers on low-level firmware optimization, RTL debugging, and protocol-level problem solving

- Enabling Synopsys to deliver competitive, high-performance memory IP solutions that meet the demands of AI, HPC, and data center applications

Requirements:

- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 12+ years of software development experience, Master's with 10+ years, or PhD with 8+ years, all in commercial or production environments

- Deep proficiency in C for embedded firmware development, including experience optimizing for resource-constrained processors

- Hands-on experience with RTL waveform analysis and debugging using tools like Verdi, DVE, or similar

- Demonstrated ability to work at the hardware-software boundary, understanding how firmware interacts with digital logic and physical interfaces

- Experience profiling and optimizing compiled code for performance-critical applications

- Strong debugging skills across firmware, RTL simulation, and hardware lab environments

- Experience with Python and Verilog is a strong plus, particularly for test automation and RTL co-development

Benefits include:

- Comprehensive medical and healthcare plans

- Time away programs

- Family support

- ESPP

- Retirement plans

- Competitive salaries

## Skills

### Required
- C
- RTL waveform analysis
- embedded firmware development
- hardware-software boundary
- profiling and optimizing compiled code
- debugging

### Nice to have
- Python
- Verilog

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Source: [Apply at careers.synopsys.com](https://careers.synopsys.com/job/nepean/principal-firmware-engineer/44408/100812692224?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)