Senior Principal Embedded Software Architect

Analog Devices, Inc.; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Analog Devices, Inc. in Vancouver seeks a Senior Principal Embedded System Architect & Team Lead to drive HW/SW co-design efforts and lead a team of architects and embedded software experts.

You will shape silicon through pre-silicon platforms, perform data-backed architectural exploration, and ensure software voices are strong in early hardware decisions.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in system software architecture, firmware, and HW/SW co-design.
• 3+ years of direct engineering management or team leadership.
• Expert in C/C++ with low-level embedded software in RTOS/Embedded Linux.
• Knowledge of memory hierarchies, AMBA AXI/AHB/APB, DMA, and RISC-V/ARM.
• Hands-on bring-up, JTAG debugging, and RTL reading/evaluation (Verilog/SystemVerilog).

Responsibilities

• Lead the HW/SW co-design architecture team and mentor engineers.
• Translate strategy into actionable architectural roadmaps and milestones.
• Balance hardware complexity with software efficiency and customer usability.
• Act as the primary technical authority for customer software teams during design.

Skills

C/C++ embedded

RTOS (Zephyr)

Embedded Linux

Bootloaders

JTAG / debug

SystemC (TLM 2.0)

Education

BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science

Tools

Renode/Virtualizer

Palladium/Zebu

Docker (CI/CD)

Job description

About Analog Devices

Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) is a global semiconductor leader that bridges the physical and digital worlds to enable breakthroughs at the Intelligent Edge. ADI combines analog, digital, AI, and software technologies into solutions that combat climate change, reliably connect humans and the world, and help drive advancements in automation and robotics, mobility, healthcare, energy and data centers. With revenue of more than $11 billion in FY25, ADI ensures today's innovators stay Ahead of What's Possible. Learn more at www.analog.com and on LinkedIn and X.

About Analog Devices

Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) is a global semiconductor leader that bridges the physical and digital worlds to enable breakthroughs at the Intelligent Edge. ADI combines analog, digital, AI, and software technologies into solutions that combat climate change, reliably connect humans and the world, and help drive advancements in automation and robotics, mobility, healthcare, energy and data centers. With revenue of more than $11 billion in FY25, ADI ensures today's innovators stay Ahead of What's Possible. Learn more at www.analog.com and on LinkedIn and X.

Senior Principal Embedded System Architect & Team Lead (HW/SW Co-Design)

About The Role

The Software and Digital Platform Group is looking for a Senior Principal Embedded System Architect & Team Lead to drive our System Architecture team in the HW/SW Co-Design group. This is a critical hybrid role combining high-impact technical leadership, hands‑on SoC and IP architectural design, and direct team management. Serving as the primary technical and operational liaison between the architecture team and the Senior Director of HW/SW Co-Design, you will lead the day‑to‑day execution, technical alignment, and growth of our system and IP architecture team while bringing a critical software‑first perspective to hardware co‑design.

This is not a role about drawing abstract boxes on slides. It is about actively shaping silicon definition through pre‑silicon virtual platforms, data‑backed architectural exploration, hands‑on data flow analysis, and engineering team leadership. You will manage and mentor a team of strong architects and embedded software experts, while actively contributing to engineering execution. The team’s primary mandate is ensuring a strong software voice is present during the earliest stages of SoC and IP design, well before silicon exists.

Working hand‑in‑hand with hardware architecture counterparts, you and your team will act as proxies for customers and downstream software teams. You will ensure every major design decision - from IP block selection to data flow topology - accounts for software developer experience, real‑world performance, field debuggability, and customer usability. We believe that excessive software complexity to compensate for hardware design decisions is a design failure; this role exists to lead the team that prevents exactly that.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Organizational Liaison

• Architecture Team Management: Direct, mentor, and manage the HW/SW co-design architecture team, driving overall team performance.
• Directorate Interface: Serve as the primary technical and operational interface between the architecture team and the Senior Director of HW/SW Co-Design, translating group strategy into actionable architectural roadmaps, milestone tracking, and regular progress reviews.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Coordinate with digital design, analog, software, validation, and product management engineering leads to resolve design trade-offs and eliminate execution bottlenecks.

Architectural Strategy & Hands-On Engineering

• HW/SW Co-Design & Tradeoff Analysis: Lead SoC co-architecture alongside digital/analog teams to balance hardware complexity, software efficiency, and customer usability at product definition.
• System & IP Evaluation: Translate customer use cases into quantitative system requirements, assessing data paths and co-defining hardware accelerators to optimize software execution.
• Core Firmware Strategy: Define and contribute to the core architecture for bootloaders, initialization sequences, microcode, and kernel drivers across target processing nodes.
• Debug & Usability Advocacy: Champion best-in-class hardware debuggability and observability (CoreSight, JTAG, trace) from early silicon bring-up through field deployment.
• Customer Proxy: Act as the premier technical authority and voice for customer software teams, ensuring platform APIs and programming models remain intuitive and efficient.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education & Experience: BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science with 15+ years of system software architecture, firmware development, and HW/SW co-design experience.
• Engineering Management: 3+ years of experience in direct engineering management or formal team leadership. (The team in question is very senior, generally self-organizing, and easy to manage day to day.)
• Embedded Software Expertise: Expert proficiency in C/C++ writing low-level embedded software, bootloaders, and device drivers within RTOS (e.g., Zephyr) and Embedded Linux environments.
• Computer Architecture: Demonstrable knowledge of memory hierarchies, bus interconnect protocols (AMBA AXI/AHB/APB), DMA engines, and RISC-V/ARM architecture fundamentals.
• Bring-up & Hardware Debug: Hands-on experience with post-silicon bring-up, JTAG debugging, and reading/evaluating RTL (Verilog/SystemVerilog) to verify hardware intent.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience scaling and structuring system architecture efforts within semiconductor or IP companies.
• Hands-on experience using SystemC (TLM 2.0) or transaction-level modeling for early architectural exploration and profiling.
• Familiarity with pre-silicon simulation platforms like Renode, Virtualizer, etc.
• Hands-on experience with hardware emulation platforms (e.g., Palladium, Zebu), FPGA prototyping, and continuous integration (CI/CD, Docker) for pre-silicon software workflows.
• Specialized knowledge in mixed-signal architectures, signal processing accelerators, dynamic power management, and DVFS strategies.
• Experience defining system-wide debug/trace infrastructure, logic analyzers, and performance modeling tools.
• Familiarity with hardware security architectures (TrustZone, secure boot, cryptography accelerators).

For positions requiring access to technical data, Analog Devices, Inc. may have to obtain export licensing approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the U.S. Department of State - Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. As such, applicants for this position – except US Citizens, US Permanent Residents, and protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) – may have to go through an export licensing review process.

Analog Devices is an equal opportunity employer. We foster a culture where everyone has an opportunity to succeed regardless of their race, color, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, social or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, union membership, and political affiliation, or any other legally protected group.

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA): Analog Devices Canada Ltd. has a process in place and provides accommodations for employees with disabilities. To request an accommodation, please contact Connections HR Services at 781-937-2500 or at [e-mail].

Job Req Type: Experienced

Required Travel: Yes, 10% of the time