Principal Firmware Development Engineer

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

2d•$142,800 - $304,200

About The Position

Microsoft Silicon and Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) builds and operates the infrastructure and foundational technologies supporting Microsoft’s online businesses and Azure platform. The role is part of Microsoft Azure’s Firmware Center of Excellence and helps define pre-silicon software development for Microsoft custom silicon. This is a cross-program technical leadership position focused on solving system-level problems, establishing scalable architecture and engineering practices, and transitioning implementation ownership to development teams for continued delivery. The engineer will guide SystemC/TLM-based virtual platform architecture across Azure silicon generations; develop models and low-level firmware and validation software; support firmware bring-up and operating system integration; and address issues across hardware, firmware, operating systems, simulation, and modeling environments. The role also contributes to integrating virtual platforms with emulation and prototyping technologies and shaping Microsoft’s hybrid development strategy. The position includes mentoring engineers and promoting reusable, maintainable, scalable solutions.

Requirements

Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 3+ years of technical engineering experience; or master’s degree in one of these fields and 6+ years of technical engineering experience; or bachelor’s degree in one of these fields and 8+ years of technical engineering experience; or equivalent experience.
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements, including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
Ability to meet export-control eligibility requirements for access to controlled information; the successful candidate must provide proof of citizenship, U.S. residency, or other protected status, with citizenship verified using a valid passport or other applicable documents for lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees.

Nice To Haves

Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 5+ years of technical engineering experience with coding; or master’s degree in one of these fields and 8+ years of technical engineering experience with coding; or bachelor’s degree in one of these fields and 12+ years of technical engineering experience with coding; or equivalent experience.
3+ years of experience leading technical projects from beginning to end.
Experience developing complex software systems using C/C++.
Experience in firmware, systems software, silicon development, virtual platforms, or pre-silicon development environments.
Experience working across hardware, firmware, and software boundaries.
Experience leading technical projects from architecture through delivery.
Experience with debugging, root-cause analysis, and technical problem-solving.
Experience with SystemC and TLM-2.0 modeling.
Experience with Synopsys Virtualizer, Arm Fast Models, Cadence Helium, or similar virtual platform technologies.

Responsibilities

Lead resolution of complex system-level challenges across virtual platforms, firmware, silicon architecture, validation infrastructure, software enablement, and hybrid execution environments.
Define architectural direction for SystemC/TLM-based virtual platforms supporting multiple generations of Azure silicon.
Identify technical risks, technology gaps, and scaling challenges across programs and drive solutions that can be adopted by multiple teams.
Establish engineering standards, modeling practices, reusable frameworks, debug strategies, and validation approaches.
Work across multiple silicon programs as a shared technical leader and subject matter expert.
Define reusable platform capabilities across Azure hardware initiatives.
Influence silicon architecture, firmware readiness, validation methodologies, and platform bring-up strategy through early technical engagement.
Drive alignment across architecture, design verification, firmware, operating system, emulation, prototyping, and platform teams.
Design and develop SystemC/TLM-2.0 models for complex SoC subsystems, including PCIe, memory, boot infrastructure, compute clusters, interconnect, and platform services.
Develop and debug low-level firmware and validation software running on virtual platforms.
Support firmware bring-up activities, including UEFI, Windows Boot, PCIe initialization, platform enumeration, early driver enablement, and operating system integration.
Debug interactions spanning hardware, firmware, operating systems, virtualization environments, simulation infrastructure, host systems, and modeling frameworks.
Analyze and optimize simulation performance, scalability, usability, and debug productivity across large SoC and multi-SoC environments.
Contribute to architectural integration of virtual platforms with emulation and prototyping systems, including ZeBu, HAPS, Helium, Palladium, and Protium.
Help define Microsoft’s hybrid development strategy by combining simulation, emulation, and prototyping technologies for pre-silicon software development and validation.
Partner with DV, firmware, architecture, and platform teams to determine where virtual models, emulation, FPGA prototyping, and hybrid flows provide value.
Mentor engineers through design reviews, architecture guidance, technical coaching, and hands-on problem solving.
Prototype, prove, and de-risk complex solutions before transitioning ownership to development teams.
Enable engineers to understand, maintain, and extend solutions after architecture direction is established.
Promote reusable, maintainable, scalable engineering solutions rather than short-term fixes.