Firmware Lead: Real-Time C/C++ for High-Speed AI

Kandou AI; Reading; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Kandou is seeking a Firmware Lead to drive real-time embedded firmware for our Randa 1.6T Active Electrical Cable platform. This coding‑heavy technical leadership role involves writing and reviewing C/C++, debugging firmware with hardware interactions, and mentoring engineers while contributing to the codebase.

You will own boot, calibration, and run-time supervision state machines on resource‑constrained platforms, advance pre- and post-silicon bring-up, and collaborate across architecture,

Qualifications

• 8+ years of real-time firmware development in C/C++, with 2+ years leading modules or small teams.
• Hands-on C/C++ in resource-constrained systems with recent code delivery and debug experience.
• Firmware experience on retimers, PHYs, AECs, AOC, networking ASICs or similar high-speed HW/SW.
• RISC-V/ARM bare-metal or RTOS, with interrupts, CSR, and memory budgeting.
• RTOS development with Zephyr, FreeRTOS or equivalent.
• Silicon/board bring-up using JTAG and root-cause analysis across HW/SW stacks.
• Proficient Python, Git/GitLab, Make/CMake, CI, unit/integration testing, static analysis.

Responsibilities

• Lead real-time embedded firmware development for AEC retimer silicon across multiple lane configurations; Hands-on C/C++ contributor.
• Implement and maintain boot, configuration, calibration, link-training, fault-recovery, and run-time supervision on constrained platforms.
• Translate firmware architecture into modular designs, APIs, tasks and memory budgets; surface trade-offs early.
• Code and optimize firmware for SerDes equalisation, FEC-aware monitoring, telemetry, thermal management.
• Own low-level drivers and interfaces (SPI, I2C/SMBus, I3C, MCTP, JTAG) and CMIS integration.
• Drive pre-silicon development and post-silicon bring-up; isolate issues across firmware, RTL, boards, lab setups using JTAG and traces.
• Set coding standards; build tests, CI, static analysis; enhance Python-based build, debug and test tools.
• Plan deliverables, estimate work, mentor engineers, coordinate with architecture, ASIC, DV, validation, SI and applications teams.

Skills

C/C++ programming

Real-time firmware debugging

RTOS/bare-metal

JTAG/trace analysis

Python

Git/GitLab

CI/CD

System bring-up

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or Computer Science

Tools

Python

Git

Make/CMake

CI

SystemC/FPGA tools

Job description

Kandou is seeking a Firmware Lead to drive real-time embedded firmware for our Randa 1.6T Active Electrical Cable platform. This coding‑heavy technical leadership role involves writing and reviewing C/C++, debugging firmware with hardware interactions, and mentoring engineers while contributing to the codebase.

You will own boot, calibration, and run-time supervision state machines on resource‑constrained platforms, advance pre- and post-silicon bring-up, and collaborate across architecture,