Director of Software & Firmware Engineering, SLT, BI, Systems, AI

Advantest; Lake Forest (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Advantest seeks a Director of Software & Firmware Engineering to lead Hardware System Integration, Handler, Test Engineering, and Portfolio Engineering for semiconductor test platforms supporting SLT, Burn-In, HPC, and ATE. This highly technical role requires hands-on involvement with software and hardware, including ~30% coding and debugging.

Based in Lake Forest, CA, you will guide global teams, drive API and data model standardization, and align software with hardware product plans while

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering with strong software background; MS preferred.
• 15+ years in software engineering or related technical field.
• 10+ years of technical engineering management experience.
• 3+ years managing a multi-tier organization including managers.
• Experience with semiconductor equipment-control software, material handling, factory automation, or complex hardware/software systems.

Responsibilities

• Translate engineering strategy into plans, milestones, resources, and delivery schedules.
• Lead software managers, technical leads, developers, and test engineers across multiple domains.
• Drive software integration across testers, handlers, and other subsystems.
• Oversee CI/CD, automated testing, and release management.
• Present reviews to customers and leadership and coordinate cross-functional activities.

Skills

Software leadership

Global team leadership

CI/CD & test automation

Systems architecture

Executive communication

Education

BS in CS/CE/EE

MS preferred

Tools

C#/.NET

C++

Python

GEM/SECS knowledge

Messaging systems (Pulsar/Kafka)

Job description

Director, Software & Firmware Engineering

Position Overview

We are seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead Hardware System Integration, Handler, Test Engineering, and Portfolio Engineering for semiconductor test platforms supporting SLT, Burn-In, HPC, and ATE.

The role leads global teams responsible for equipment-control software, material handling integration, test engineering, factory interfaces, production data, and shared software capabilities.

This position is expected to be highly technical and hands-on with software and hardware, with approximately 30% of time spent directly coding, debugging, and solving complex technical issues across the semiconductor test ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

• Translate engineering strategy into engineering plans, technical milestones, resource plans, and delivery schedules.
• Lead software managers, technical leads, developers, and test engineers across Thermal, System Integration, Handler, Test, and Portfolio Engineering.
• Lead firmware group to ensure board bringups and thermal bringups hits the milestones
• Drive execution across multiple products and customer programs and ensure teams deliver committed milestones.
• Align software development, integration, validation, and release schedules with SW Product Management and Hardware TPMs.
• Lead software integration across testers, handlers, thermal systems, device interfaces, PLCs, firmware, and equipment-control systems.
• Lead development of communication interfaces for material handling, factory automation, and factory management systems.
• Lead GEM/SECS, EAC/EAP, lot processing, alarms, availability reporting, equipment telemetry, and production data capabilities.
• Lead automated validation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, regression, endurance testing, system qualification, and production readiness.
• Improve throughput, reliability, availability, recovery, and downtime through system performance analysis.
• Drive reuse and standardization of APIs, SDKs, messaging, data models, logging, diagnostics, and common software components.
• Ensure customer requirements are implemented as scalable, configurable product capabilities.
• Track milestones, dependencies, risks, quality, integration readiness, and release criteria across the portfolio.
• Improve software development, testing, validation, and release processes.
• Coordinate execution with Product Management, Program Management, Business Development, Hardware, Firmware, QA, Production, Applications, and Product Support.
• Lead adoption of AI-assisted software development, testing, diagnostics, and documentation.
• Conduct architecture, design, integration, and release-readiness reviews.
• Present technical and program-readiness reviews to customers and internal leadership.
• Support customer technical discussions, system bring-up, escalations, and production deployments.
• Conduct performance reviews, set goals, mentor leaders, and support succession planning.
• All other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Required Skills & Experience

• B.S in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering with a strong software background, Software Engineering, or related field; M.S. preferred.
• 15+ years of software engineering or related technical experience.
• 10+ years of technical engineering management experience.
• 3+ years managing a multi-tier organization, including managers or supervisors.
• Significant experience with semiconductor equipment-control software, material handling systems, factory automation, or complex hardware/software systems.
• Strong knowledge of GEM/SECS and related SEMI standards.
• Strong understanding of semiconductor test and measurement principles.
• Experience integrating software with testers, handlers, thermal systems, PLCs, firmware, drivers, and production equipment.
• Strong understanding of software architecture, distributed systems, APIs, messaging, telemetry, databases, and equipment-control software.
• Experience with C#/.NET, C++, Python, or similar production software environments.
• Experience managing multiple products and customer programs, including schedules, resources, dependencies, and technical risks.
• Strong understanding of CI/CD, automated testing, hardware-in-the-loop validation, release management, observability, and production support.
• Proven ability to lead global engineering teams and drive accountability.
• Strong customer, technical, executive, and cross-functional communication skills.
• Must be willing to work onsite in our Lake Forest, CA office.

Preferred / Plus Qualifications

• Experience with SLT, Burn-In, ATE, HPC, handlers, or semiconductor capital equipment.
• Experience with EAP/EAC, lot processing, factory automation, equipment telemetry, availability reporting, or manufacturing data systems.
• Experience with handler, thermal, PLC, and tester integration.
• Familiarity with Apache Pulsar, Kafka, RabbitMQ, MQTT, or similar messaging technologies.
• Experience delivering on-premises software for high-volume semiconductor manufacturing.
• Experience modernizing legacy systems while maintaining compatibility with installed environments.
• Experience applying AI to software development, testing, diagnostics, or documentation.
• Experience leading engineering teams across the U.S. and international locations.

Additional Requirements

• Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required.
• On-site presence in the Lake Forest, CA office is required.