Principal Firmware Development Engineer

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

About The Position

Microsoft Silicon and Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) develops the infrastructure and foundational technologies behind Microsoft’s online businesses and Azure platform. The role is part of the Azure Firmware Center of Excellence and helps define pre-silicon software development for Microsoft custom silicon. It is a cross-program technical leadership position focused on solving system-level problems, setting scalable architecture and engineering practices, and transferring execution ownership to development teams for long-term delivery. The engineer provides technical direction across virtual platforms, firmware, silicon architecture, validation infrastructure, software enablement, and hybrid execution environments. The role develops SystemC/TLM-2.0 models and low-level firmware and validation software, supports firmware bring-up and operating-system integration, and addresses complex debugging and simulation performance challenges. It also contributes to hybrid platform strategy spanning simulation, emulation, and prototyping technologies, while mentoring engineers and building organizational capability through reusable, maintainable solutions.

Requirements

Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 3 or more years of technical engineering experience; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 6 or more years of technical engineering experience; or a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and 8 or more 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 provide proof of citizenship, U.S. residency, or other protected status to assess eligibility for access to export-controlled information; citizenship is verified using a valid passport, with other applicable documents accepted for lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees.
Preferred: Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 5 or more years of technical engineering experience with coding; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 8 or more years of such experience; or a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and 12 or more years of such experience; or equivalent experience.
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 debugging, root-cause analysis, and technical problem-solving.
Experience with SystemC and TLM-2.0 modeling.

Nice To Haves

Three or more years of experience leading technical projects from beginning to end.
Experience leading technical projects from architecture through delivery.
Experience with Synopsys Virtualizer, Arm Fast Models, Cadence Helium, or similar virtual platform technologies.

Responsibilities

Lead resolution of complex system-level challenges spanning 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 practical solutions that can be adopted across teams.
Establish engineering standards, modeling practices, reusable frameworks, debug strategies, and validation approaches.
Act as a shared technical leader and subject matter expert across multiple silicon programs.
Define reusable platform capabilities across Azure hardware initiatives rather than one-off project implementations.
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 without relying on direct authority.
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, including UEFI, Windows Boot, PCIe initialization, platform enumeration, early driver enablement, and operating-system integration.
Debug interactions across 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 long-term hybrid development strategy combining simulation, emulation, and prototyping to scale pre-silicon software development and validation.
Partner with design verification, 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 for long-term execution.
Enable engineers to understand, maintain, and extend solutions after initial architecture direction is established.
Promote reusable, maintainable, and scalable engineering solutions rather than short-term fixes.