Director, Embedded Software Engineering (AI2558)

SiMa.ai, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 231,000 - 358,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits package

Job summary

SiMa.ai, Inc. in San Jose, CA, is seeking a hands-on Director of Embedded Software Engineering to lead the US SoC software team. You will own the technical direction, architecture, and delivery of OS, boot software, drivers, and Linux applications for the MLSoC platform.

You will collaborate with the India team and other global SW teams, drive pre-/post-silicon verification, and plan headcount and budgets while partnering with silicon and hardware groups to ensure robust SDK deliverables.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in computer science or electrical engineering with 15+ years in embedded software.
• Minimum 5 years of people management/supervisory experience.
• Proven track record delivering complex software or SDKs to external customers.
• Hands-on with firmware, boot code, and software for high-performance 64-bit Arm processors.
• Strong C/C++ expertise and ability to review architecture/design decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own roadmap, schedule, quality and release of MLSoC SDK features for the US team.
• Contribute to architecture and code reviews; assist bring-up and debugging in U-Boot/Linux.
• Set technical direction for secure boot chain, image signing, and key management.
• Direct development of drivers for interfaces (PCIe, MIPI, USB, Ethernet, etc.).
• Coordinate feature delivery with India; align priorities across sites/time zones.
• Lead and develop the US embedded software team; plan headcount and budget.
• Oversee third-party IP integration and pre/post-silicon verification activities.
• Collaborate with silicon/hardware and product/customer teams to deliver SDKs.
• Establish engineering practices for code review, CI, release management and security.

Skills

C/C++

Linux kernel

Device drivers

U-Boot

Pre-silicon verification

Yocto

ARM 64-bit

Docker

Open source

Team leadership

Secure boot

Key management

SDK delivery

Electrical/SoC collaboration

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering

Tools

Yocto

Debian Linux

Docker

Open source projects

Job description

Job Title: Director, Embedded Software Engineering

Job Location: San Jose, CA (This position requires a full-time, on-site presence in our San Jose, CA office)

Job ID: AI2558

Description:

The SoC software team creates the Board Support Package (BSP) and platform SW for SiMa.ai's MLSoC™ product line. The team develops and supports the OS, boot software, device drivers and run-time environment for the multiple subsystems in the MLSoC, and builds embedded Linux applications and APIs that supports customers and end-to-end applications across the MLSoC's IO subsystems.

We are looking for a hands-on Director of Engineering to lead the embedded software team at our San Jose headquarters. You will own the technical direction and delivery of the US SoC SW team, coordinate feature delivery with the India team, and work closely with the other global SW teams and with silicon, hardware, validation, product and customer-facing groups.

Responsibilities:

• Own the roadmap, schedule, quality and release of the MLSoC SDK features assigned to the US team: OS, boot software, device drivers, run-time environment, and embedded Linux applications and APIs. The SoC SW team also supports Factory Test for SiMa PCBAs.
• Contribute hands-on to architecture, design and code review, and step in directly on critical bring-up and debug work in U-Boot, firmware, secure boot, Linux and associated interface libraries.
• Set technical direction for the secure boot chain, firmware and U-Boot, including key management and image authentication.
• Set technical direction for eLxr/Debian builds, and for the Linux configurations on each reference board.
• Direct the development of drivers for low-speed and high-speed peripheral interfaces, and support for Docker, hypervisor and RTOS environments. This includes PCIe, MIPI, USB, DDR, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, SDIO, etc.
• Work as a peer with the Director of Engineering in India to plan, split and coordinate feature delivery across both sites, and keep priorities, schedules and interfaces aligned.
• Leverage AI to optimize all SW processes
• Lead, hire and develop the US embedded software team
• Plan headcount and budget for the US SoC team, and report progress and risks to executive leadership.
• Oversee integration of third party IP software into the MLSoC software environment.
• Partner with silicon and hardware teams on pre-silicon verification using SoC emulators, and on post-silicon bring-up and troubleshooting.
• Provide SW for the MLSoC chip validation
• Work with product management and customer-facing teams to turn customer requirements into SDK deliverables and commitments.
• Establish engineering practices for code review, continuous integration, release management, quality metrics, security response and open source license compliance.

Key Requirements

• BS/MS in computer science, electrical engineering or a related field, with a minimum of 15 years of total experience in embedded software, including at least 5 years of people management/supervisory experience.
• Proven track record of building, scaling and retaining high-performance engineering teams, and of working as a peer with leaders at other sites to deliver across multiple geographies and time zones.
• Proven track record of delivering complex software products or SDKs to external customers.
• Hands-on experience developing firmware, boot code and software for high-performance 64-bit Arm processors.
• Hands-on experience with U-Boot, including porting, customization and debugging.
• Hands-on experience with secure boot, including chain of trust, image signing and verification, and key management.
• Experience with embedded RTOS (e.g. QNX) in a product environment.
• Experience with hypervisors, including running and supporting guest operating systems on Arm.
• Deep experience with Linux kernel and device driver development, including SPI, I2C, USB, PCIe, MIPI, Ethernet and eMMC.
• Experience working with silicon teams on pre-silicon verification, post-silicon bring-up and troubleshooting.
• Strong proficiency in C/C++, and the technical depth to review architecture and design decisions and to contribute code when needed.
• Experience with embedded Linux build systems (e.g. Yocto) and Debian Linux is highly desirable.
• Experience with Docker is highly desirable.
• Experience building on open source software frameworks and working with open source communities is highly desirable.
• Experience with SDKs for AI/ML accelerators or edge SoCs is a plus.

Personal Attributes:

Strong leader and team builder who sets clear goals and holds people and themselves accountable. Collaborative with peers at other sites and comfortable working across time zones. Execution and results-oriented, self-driven and curious, with good judgment on technical trade-offs. Communicates clearly with engineers, executives and customers.

The annual salary for this position ranges from $231,100 - $358,200. The actual annual salary offered will depend on several factors, including - among others - job-related skills, experience, technical expertise, qualifications, work location, and business needs. The annual salary range for this position is subject to change and may be adjusted in the future.

In addition to base salary, this role is also eligible for private company equity, and a comprehensive package of employee benefits. Please note that the salary ranges listed for U.S. roles reflect base salary only and do not include equity or other forms of compensation.

EEO Employer: SiMa is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.