Principal Firmware Validation Engineer
About The Position
Microsoft Silicon and Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) develops core infrastructure and foundational technologies supporting Microsoft’s online businesses and Azure. The Firmware Development team designs and develops server and rack infrastructure firmware, partnering with Microsoft product groups, industry partners, and researchers to deliver server hardware solutions for cloud services. The team focuses on reliable, high-efficiency infrastructure and delivering products to Azure datacenters. The Principal Firmware Validation Engineer will work with the Azure Firmware Center of Excellence on firmware and system validation for Azure infrastructure, including MAIA and Cobalt product lines. The role coordinates validation, integration, and debugging across domains in AI server architecture, and leads root-cause analysis across pre- and post-silicon platforms. It also contributes to debug automation, knowledge sharing, and improvements to test coverage and firmware release efficiency.
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.
- 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.
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.
- Experience programming 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, and simulation.
- Experience with system-level debugging, including partner issues, and understanding of how to manage and triage production-level issues.
- 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 the validation environment), integration, and debugging of system software and firmware across domains in AI server architecture, such as 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
