Principal Firmware Engineer

Overview

Microsoft Silicon and Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) is the team behind Microsoft’s expanding Cloud Infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” mission.

SCHIE delivers the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's over 200 online businesses including Bing, MSN, Office 365, Xbox Live, Skype, OneDrive, and the Microsoft Azure platform globally with its server and data center infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions.

Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering trusted experiences to customers and partners worldwide, and we are looking for passionate engineers to help achieve that mission.

Are you passionate about working on cutting edge technology in a team that embodies the growth mindset? Are you hoping to join an organization which is built on the mission “To empower every person and organization on this planet to achieve more”?

The Firmware Center of Excellence org in SCHIE is responsible for building Hardware/Firmware for Azure Infrastructure. We are working on the next generation of Hardware/Firmware for server, silicon, and rack infrastructure with a focus on innovation in firmware technology to secure Azure infrastructure for Microsoft and their customers. Our team works closely with AI and Azure-Core teams for the architecture and development of Cobalt and Maia systems in Azure Data-centre.

We are looking for a highly motivated Principal Firmware Architect with a background in Firmware Architecture and development in embedded systems.

Responsibilities

• Drive architectural vision and strategic direction for backend firmware systems supporting AI accelerators such as MAIA ensuring scalability, performance, and security across SoC platforms.
• You will be responsible for creating the firmware architecture for key systems and work closely with hardware teams to ensure hardware integrates well with the firmware
• You will contribute to design of various firmware components, including driver interface, system libraries needed for SoC bring-up, protocol and feature development of low-level hardware.
• Mentor the engineers in firmware development, debugging, and optimization. Provide technical oversight across multiple subsystems and components.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison between hardware/software architects, software development teams, validation, and integration groups to align firmware development with overall product goals.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends in cloud firmware and AI hardware. Propose and prototype innovative solutions to enhance product capabilities and operational efficiency.
• Lead complex system-level debugging efforts, conduct root cause analysis, and perform performance tuning across hardware and firmware boundaries.
• Own the complete firmware development lifecycle—from concept and design through bring-up, validation, manufacturing, and productization. Ensure delivery of high-quality, production-ready code

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related field. - 14+ years of professional experience in firmware or embedded software development, with focus on multicore systems and scalable architecture. - 4+ years of hands-on experience of working with High-Speed Ethernet Controller Firmware/Software. Expertise in Ethernet MAC and Network Transport Layer protocols, traffic management, QoS configuration, and performance optimization etc.
• Solid understanding of Layer 2/Layer 3 networking protocols, network processors, optical networking technologies, CMIS specifications, and SFF standards including SFP and QSFP modules.
• Proven track record of leading complex SoC bring-up efforts and delivering production-grade firmware solutions.
• Expert-level proficiency in C/C++/Rust, with demonstrated experience in designing and optimizing low-level firmware components.

Preferred Qualifications

• understanding of computer architecture, including processors, buses, memory hierarchies, and interconnects.
• understanding of CPU execution modes, memory coherency, protection mechanisms, interrupt controllers, virtualization, and related architectural concepts.
• Hands-on experience with secure bootloaders, platform initialization, and board support packages.

Additional information

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.