Principal Firmware Validation Engineer
About The Position
Microsoft Silicon and Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) develops the server and data center infrastructure, security, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions that support Microsoft’s online businesses and Azure platform. Its Firmware Development team designs and develops server and rack infrastructure firmware, working with Microsoft product groups, industry partners, and researchers to build cost-effective hardware solutions for cloud services. The team develops and validates firmware for server, silicon, and rack infrastructure, with a focus on Azure infrastructure and the MAIA and Cobalt product lines. The Principal Firmware Validation Engineer will work with experienced engineers to deliver products for Azure datacenters, coordinate firmware validation and integration, and debug systems across AI server architectures and pre- and post-silicon platforms.
Requirements
- Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 3+ years of technical engineering experience; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 6+ years of technical engineering experience; or a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and 8+ years of technical engineering experience; or equivalent experience.
- Must 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.
Nice To Haves
- BS or MS in Computer Science or Engineering, or equivalent industry experience.
- 10+ years of professional experience in design/development, integration, validation, or system-level debugging in embedded systems.
- Programming experience in Python, C, or C++.
- Demonstrated experience in system-level debugging and validation, including validation infrastructure setup, for complex embedded systems such as boards, FPGA, emulation, or simulation.
- Experience with system-level debugging, including partner issues, and understanding of production-level issue management and triage.
- Experience with PCIe, I2C, I3C, SPI, and other low-level interfaces in the AI server space.
- Familiarity with silicon bring-up and validation flows.
- Experience creating or working with automated testing pipelines (CI/CD for integration and validation).
- Knowledge of hardware debuggers such as JTAG, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers.
- Knowledge of automation framework setup and deployment.
Responsibilities
- Own coordination, validation (including validation environment), integration, and debugging of system software and firmware across domains in AI server architecture, including SoC firmware, drivers, BIOS, BMC, and Rack Manager.
- Lead debugging and root-cause analysis of firmware, operating system, and driver-level failures across diverse pre- and post-silicon platforms in the AI server domain.
- Develop and maintain debug templates, scripts, and automation pipelines for log collection, crash dump analysis, and compliance validation.
- Collaborate with firmware, silicon, OS, driver, and platform teams to triage bugs and align debug processes across forums, and feed learnings into long-term roadmap improvements.
- Maintain and expand firmware and OS debug knowledge bases and wikis for onboarding and reference.
- Participate in daily syncs and debug forums to track high-severity issues and ensure timely resolution.
- Explore and deploy methods to improve test coverage, release and test automation, and firmware release efficiency.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
