Senior Principal Firmware Engineer

Oriole; Paignton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Oriole in Paignton, United Kingdom, seeks an experienced Firmware Engineer to design, implement and test embedded firmware for custom networking hardware. You will collaborate with hardware engineers, software developers and QA teams to ensure optimal system performance.

Responsibilities include developing firmware for optical transceiver control, interfacing with SPI/I2C/UART/Ethernet, and driving robust development methodologies with code reviews, testing, and automation to secure long-term

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or related field.
• Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded systems.
• 15 years+ experience with microcontrollers, SoCs, and RTOS.
• Familiarity with hardware interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART and Ethernet.
• Strong debugging skills and experience with embedded development tools.
• Understanding of version control systems (e.g., Git)
• Strong communication skills to present complex ideas

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain embedded firmware for optical transceiver control.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers to define firmware requirements and interfaces.
• Optimize firmware for performance, reliability, and power efficiency.
• Debug and troubleshoot firmware issues using tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analysers and JTAG interfaces
• Write and maintain technical documentation, including design specs and test plans.
• Guide and support the development of robust firmware development methodologies, including code reviews, testing strategies, configuration management and automation to ensure product quality and long-term maintainability.

Skills

Embedded firmware

C/C++ (embedded)

RTOS experience

SPI/I2C/UART/Ethernet

Debugging

Git

Communication

Education

BSc/MSc in Electrical or Computer Engineering

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

JTAG

CI/CD

Linux kernel

Device drivers

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Firmware Engineer to join our hardware development team. You will be responsible for designing, implementing and testing embedded firmware for custom networking hardware. This role involves close collaboration with hardware engineers, software developers and QA teams to ensure seamless integration and optimal system performance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain embedded firmware for optical transceiver control.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers to define firmware requirements and interfaces.
• Optimize firmware for performance, reliability, and power efficiency.
• Debug and troubleshoot firmware issues using tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analysers and JTAG interfaces
• Write and maintain technical documentation, including design specs and test plans.
• Guide and support the development of robust firmware development methodologies, including code reviews, testing strategies, configuration management and automation to ensure product quality and long-term maintainability.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or related field.
• Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded systems.
• 15 years+ experience with microcontrollers, SoCs, and real-time operating systems (RTOS).
• Familiarity with hardware interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART and Ethernet.
• Strong debugging skills and experience with embedded development tools.
• Understanding of version control systems (e.g., Git)
• Strong communication skills to present complex ideas

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with networking protocols and packet processing.
• Familiarity of pluggable optical transceiver MSA / CMIS specifications
• Knowledge of FPGA or ASIC development workflows.
• Familiarity with Linux kernel and device drivers.
• Exposure to CI/CD pipelines for embedded development.