Firmware Engineer

PCB Piezotronics, Inc. • Cary, NC

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Temposonics is seeking an experienced embedded firmware engineer to design and own the firmware at the heart of our magnetostrictive linear position sensors. This is a hands-on, component-level firmware role. The successful candidate will write the code that generates the interrogation pulse, detects and times the return strain wave, converts time-of-flight into a calibrated position value, and delivers that value to the customer's machine over industrial networks and analog outputs - accurately, deterministically, and reliably, in the electrically demanding environments in which our products operate.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated expertise in the following areas: 1) Embedded firmware architecture and real-time design at the component level; 2) Expert programming skill in C and C++ on 32-bit microcontrollers; 3) Industrial communication interfaces including CANbus, Ethernet-based fieldbus protocols such as EtherCAT, PROFINET and EtherNet/IP, and analog voltage and current output devices; and 4) Firmware/hardware integration and debug. Sensor or precision measurement experience is a strong plus. This position also serves as the senior firmware technical resource for the Cary R&D organization, setting architecture direction for new sensor platforms, raising the rigor of the firmware development lifecycle, mentoring engineers, and collaborating with our Ludenscheid (Germany) and Hyderabad (India) engineering teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related engineering discipline. Equivalent demonstrated experience will be considered.
• Minimum 8 years of professional embedded firmware development experience at the component level - firmware written for a specific microcontroller and a specific circuit, as distinct from application software running on a general-purpose operating system.
• Expert-level proficiency in C, with working proficiency in C++; comfortable working at the register level and reading assembly when required.
• Demonstrated experience delivering released production firmware on 32-bit microcontrollers (ARM Cortex-M or equivalent) in both bare-metal and RTOS environments, including interrupt-driven, real-time deterministic designs.
• Hands-on development experience with CANbus, including at least one higher-layer protocol such as CANopen or SAE J1939.
• Hands-on development experience with at least one Industrial Ethernet protocol, such as EtherCAT, PROFINET, or EtherNet/IP.
• Hands-on experience implementing analog output interfaces, both voltage and 4-20 mA current loop, including DAC configuration, scaling, calibration, and fault-state definition.
• Fluent use of laboratory instrumentation for firmware debug, including oscilloscope, logic analyzer, protocol analyzer, JTAG or SWD debugger, and bench power and signal sources.
• Ability to read and interpret schematics, timing diagrams, and component data sheets, and to work productively with electrical engineers on hardware and firmware trade-offs.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to author a specification or an analysis that another engineer can act on, and to defend a technical position with data.
• Ability to make sound independent technical decisions and to exercise sound judgment to solve problems and make recommendations.
• Must be able to comprehend written and verbal instructions and technical documentation.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. The company is not able sponsor visas now or in the future for this position.

Nice To Haves

• Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience developing firmware for sensors or precision measurement instruments, such as magnetostrictive, magnetic, inductive, encoder, LVDT, ultrasonic, load cell, or force and torque devices.
• Prior experience taking an Industrial Ethernet or fieldbus device through conformance testing and formal certification.
• Experience integrating multiprotocol communication modules or stacks, such as Hilscher netX, and generating and validating device description files.
• IO-Link, SSI, Modbus, or PROFIBUS implementation experience.
• Experience with functional safety development (IEC 61508, ISO 13849, or ISO 26262) or with safety-rated sensor variants.
• Working knowledge of EMC design and test, and of firmware techniques that improve immunity and recovery behavior.

Responsibilities

• Own the firmware architecture for new and derivative magnetostrictive linear displacement transducer platforms, including task partitioning, real-time timing budgets, memory budgets, and interface definition, and document that architecture so the design survives beyond any one engineer.
• Design, implement, and optimize the core measurement firmware: interrogation pulse generation, return-signal detection and threshold management, high-resolution time-of-flight capture, time-to-position conversion, multi-magnet discrimination, and output update-rate management.
• Develop and tune the digital signal processing chain, including filtering, sliding DFT and Goertzel-class algorithms, phase optimization, interpolation, and averaging strategies, balancing resolution, repeatability, latency, and noise immunity, and quantifying those trade-offs with data.
• Implement temperature compensation, linearity correction, calibration storage, and end-of-line calibration routines, working with test engineering so that the production tester and the sensor firmware share one calibration model.
• Develop and validate firmware for analog output variants, including voltage (0-10 V, plus or minus 10 V) and current (4-20 mA) outputs, covering DAC drive, span and zero scaling and configuration, loop compliance, output slew and settling behavior, and defined fault and error output states.
• Develop and validate firmware for digital and networked output variants, including CANbus-based protocols (CANopen, SAE J1939), Industrial Ethernet (EtherCAT, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP), IO-Link, SSI, and serial and Modbus interfaces, in accordance with the applicable protocol specification and device profile.
• Integrate and maintain third-party and multiprotocol communication stacks and modules, such as Hilscher netX-class devices, including host interface implementation, process data and object dictionary mapping, and device description file generation (EDS, GSDML, ESI).
• Develop and maintain the driver and board support layer directly from silicon documentation: clock and power configuration, timers and capture units, DMA, ADC and DAC, comparators, SPI, I2C, UART, QSPI, and GPIO, in both bare-metal and RTOS-based designs on ARM Cortex-M or comparable microcontrollers and DSPs.
• Design and maintain the bootloader and field firmware update path, including image integrity verification, version reporting, failure recovery and rollback, and non-volatile memory management with wear and power-loss considerations.
• Implement device diagnostics, self-test, plausibility checking, watchdog strategy, and defined safe-state behavior, so that a sensor fault is detectable and actionable by the customer's control system.
• Partner with electrical engineering from concept through release: participate in component selection and schematic and layout review, advocate for testability and debug access, and lead firmware and hardware bring-up on new printed circuit board assemblies.
• Troubleshoot and debug embedded systems at the firmware and hardware boundary using oscilloscopes, logic and protocol analyzers, JTAG and SWD debuggers, and bus sniffers, driving issues to an evidenced root cause rather than a workaround.
• Own firmware verification and validation: write requirement-linked test specifications, build unit and hardware-in-the-loop regression suites, and execute regression testing as a required condition of every firmware release under the ECO process.
• Support product qualification and design validation, including EMC (ESD, EFT and burst, surge, radiated and conducted immunity), thermal, shock and vibration, and magnet compatibility testing, and resolve firmware-attributable findings, including immunity and recovery behavior.
• Create documentation, including software requirements and design specifications, interface control documents, test specifications and reports, release notes, and change impact analyses that explicitly state risk, scope of regression, and customer impact.
• Serve as the firmware technical authority in design reviews and phase-gate reviews, review the code and designs of peers, and mentor mid-level and junior engineers in embedded design practice.
• Engage proactively with cross-functional, inter-departmental, and cross-site teams, including the Ludenscheid and Hyderabad engineering teams, to deliver technical support and to develop shared platforms and reusable firmware components.
• Assist production, test, and sustaining engineers in addressing firmware challenges; resolve field and factory issues, and help improve tester first-pass yield, tester efficiency, and firmware-driven product cost and cycle time.
• Evaluate emerging microcontrollers, DSPs, algorithms, protocols, and toolchains; propose and prototype innovations that create measurable competitive advantage; and contribute to invention disclosures and patent filings.
• Know and apply the division's quality policy and procedures of ISO 9001 as it relates to area of responsibility and the organization. Follows all standard-operating procedures as prescribed and notifies appropriate personnel of any non-conformance.

Benefits

• Competitive medical, dental, and vision plans for you and your family
• A progressive 401(k) with a 75% company match on employee contributions up to 6%
• Generous paid time off and company-paid holidays
• Ongoing employee development opportunities to help you advance your skills and career

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior