Embedded Software Engineer

Ciena•Burlington, MA

About The Position

As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena is committed to a people-first approach. Our teams enjoy a culture focused on prioritizing a flexible work environment that empowers individual growth, well-being, and belonging. We’re a technology company that leads with our humanity—driving our business priorities alongside meaningful social, community, and societal impact. Ciena is looking for a Software Engineer to join the ONU firmware development team. You will design, implement, and maintain firmware across the full software stack: from U-Boot bootloader and OpenWrt/prplOS kernel bring-up, through PON/OMCI protocol integration, Ethernet switching, and security (TPM 2.0, Secure Boot). You will collaborate closely with hardware engineers, systems architects, and field support to deliver production-quality firmware for a novel, high-reliability product. Ciena is a networking systems, services, and software company focused on the transport of information across networks. We work with hyperscalers, telecom operators, and enterprises to enable the next generation of intelligent networking. The 3825 program is a key part of Ciena's Data Center Operations Management portfolio.

Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related field.
3–5 years of relevant professional experience in embedded software or firmware development.
Proficient in C for embedded/systems programming; familiarity with C++ a plus.
Hands-on experience with embedded Linux (kernel drivers, device trees, init systems, cross-compilation).
Familiarity with OpenWrt or a comparable embedded Linux build system (Yocto, Buildroot).
Working knowledge of networking fundamentals: Ethernet, VLANs, QoS, LACP, TCP/IP.
Experience with bootloaders (U-Boot preferred) and firmware lifecycle management
Comfortable using Git, Make, and Linux command-line toolchains.

Nice To Haves

Experience with PON technologies (XGS-PON, GPON) and the OMCI protocol stack (ITU-T G.988).
Familiarity with Marvell/Broadcom switching components or equivalent merchant silicon SDK for switching/routing ASICs.
Experience integrating TPM 2.0 and/or Secure Boot in embedded platforms.
Knowledge of NAND flash memory layouts, UBI/UBIFS, and MTD subsystems.
Experience with inter-process communication mechanisms (ubus, Unix sockets, shared memory).
CAN bus experience.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain embedded Linux firmware on OpenWrt based ONU systems.
Implement and extend PON subsystem software: XGS-PON registration, OMCI agent, eOMCI, Active-Active coordination, and MIB synchronization.
Integrate and configure the Ethernet switching subsystems on Ciena hardware, VLAN operations, port management, QoS (traffic classification, scheduling, shaping), and LACP.
Develop U-Boot bootloader extensions, firmware upgrade flows, and firmware version management.
Implement and maintain security features: TPM 2.0 integration, Secure Boot, OMCI-level PON encryption.
Write and maintain OpenWrt package Makefiles, custom feeds, and build scripts.
Develop and apply patches to the OpenWrt/prplOS base for platform-specific capabilities.
Participate in code review, write unit and integration tests, and debug issues from lab bring-up through field deployment.
Maintain technical documentation and component-level design notes.