Firmware Engineer

Canadian Solar Inc.•Kitchener, ON

1d•CA$87,000 - CA$135,000•Onsite

About The Position

CS Digital is a digital technology startup focused on providing state-of-the-art digital technology for power solutions. Our first goal is to build a North American based inverter control board, firmware and energy station controller for the BESS industry to compliment Canadian Solar’s String Power Conversion System Medium Voltage Skid for the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) industry. The Firmware Engineer – FPGA owns the design, development, optimization, and lifecycle support of real‑time embedded firmware for inverters used in utility‑ energy storage systems. This role requires deep expertise in Texas Instruments DSP platforms, inverter control firmware, and grid‑code compliance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
5+ years of professional experience developing FPGA or digital logic for embedded or real‑time systems.
3+ years of hands‑on experience with Lattice FPGA platforms in production hardware.
Demonstrated experience with grid‑tied inverters, power converters, or comparable high‑reliability embedded systems.
Experience working in cross‑functional and globally distributed engineering teams.
Strong analytical, problem‑solving, documentation, and technical communication skills.
International and domestic travel ability.
Expert proficiency with FPGA devices and toolchains, including synthesis, place & route, timing analysis, and bitstream generation.
Strong experience in RTL development using VHDL and/or Verilog for real‑time and safety‑critical applications.
Solid understanding of clocking, CDC, timing closure, latency, and throughput optimization.
Experience designing FPGA‑based interfaces to ADCs, DACs, MCUs/DSPs, sensors, and external peripherals.
Solid understanding of grid‑tied inverter operation and digital control concepts.
Experience with gate driver control and power device protection of power semiconductor IGBT/MOSFET (i.e. with Wolfspeed, Infineon, Semikron etc.).
Working knowledge of grid‑code behavior such as anti‑islanding, ride‑through, and grid support functions.
Experience with embedded communication protocols including CAN, SPI, UART, parallel interface and custom protocols.
Familiarity with firmware interfaces to BMS, EMS, SCADA, and commissioning tools.
Strong grasp of modern firmware development practices, including Git‑based version control, peer reviews, and issue tracking.
Ability to read and interpret schematics and collaborate closely with hardware designers.
Exposure to firmware verification strategies, including simulation, integration testing, and HIL testing.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with inverter and grid‑interconnection standards such as UL 1741 SB, IEEE 1547‑2018, and UL 1998 is strongly preferred.
Simulation experience (P-Spice, Simulink) is an asset.

Responsibilities

Architect, design, and implement FPGA logic for grid‑tied inverters and energy storage subsystems using FPGA/CPLD platforms.
Develop synthesizable RTL (VHDL/Verilog) for time‑critical functions such as data acquisition, protection logic, communications, and control offloading.
Translate system, control, and grid‑code requirements into traceable firmware requirements and robust designs.
Implement inverter features such as grid synchronization, protections, fault handling, diagnostics, and monitoring.
Support compliance with grid and firmware standards (UL 1741 SB, IEEE 1547, UL 1998) and certification testing activities.
Collaborate with hardware, controls, systems, and validation teams to ensure system‑level performance and reliability.
Debug complex firmware issues, perform root‑cause analysis, and optimize performance using lab tools and emulators.
Participate in and lead firmware architecture reviews, code reviews, and technical risk assessments.
Maintain clear firmware documentation and contribute to process improvement and release quality.
Mentor junior engineers and support product lifecycle and field issue resolution.