Distinguished Technologist - Principal Architect, Platform Security and Firmware Systems

HP; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 190,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Disability insurance

Generous time off

Parental leave

Job summary

HP, Inc. is seeking a Distinguished Technologist to lead the architecture of hardware security systems for their commercial PC platform.

This senior role requires expertise in embedded systems, firmware, and the ability to drive complex security solutions while collaborating with multiple teams. In addition to a recommended Bachelor's degree, candidates should have extensive experience in PC architectures and the capability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in PC, embedded, firmware, or platform system architecture.
• Ability to architect solutions spanning hardware, firmware, software, and cloud services.
• Deep understanding of BIOS/UEFI and secure boot processes.

Responsibilities

• Serve as principal architect for HP Endpoint Security Controller.
• Define HP Sure Start architecture for firmware resilience.
• Drive secure BIOS and firmware configuration management strategies.
• Lead cross-functional architecture definition.
• Anticipate emerging threats and technology shifts.

Skills

Platform Security

Firmware Systems

Embedded Systems

Cryptography

Architectural Leadership

Customer Engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Computer Science

Tools

PowerShell

C#

Python

Java

Visual Studio Code

Job description

Distinguished Technologist - Principal Architect, Platform Security and Firmware Systems

HP is seeking a senior technical leader to serve as a lead architect for hardware rooted Platform Root of Trust for HP's commercial PC platform. In this role, you will be responsible for envisioning, defining, and driving the architecture of hardware, firmware, software, and cloud-integrated security capabilities that protect HP commercial PCs from current and emerging threats. You will also work across the hardware and security architecture teams, collaborate with HP's Security Research Labs, Firmware (BIOS) team, our security business that creates and deploys industry leading enterprise security and manageability solutions, product management, manufacturing, supply chain, customer enablement, and field organizations to create cohesive system solutions that deliver unique customer value. This position requires deep expertise in embedded systems, platform firmware, hardware, security, device manageability, and PC system architecture. The role also requires the ability to translate complex technical capabilities into customer-relevant value propositions and to influence internal and external stakeholders without relying solely on formal authority.

Responsibilities

• Serve as principal architect for HP Endpoint Security Controller roadmap, associated hardware and firmware based capabilities, cryptographic identity, attestation, secure communication, event logging, and future controller generations.
• Define and evolve HP Sure Start architecture and related firmware resilience capabilities, including hardware-enforced firmware authenticity, recovery, update, and protection mechanisms.
• Drive secure BIOS and firmware configuration management strategies, including HP Sure Admin ecosystem capabilities, key management, zero-touch provisioning, customer deployment models, and integration with enterprise management tools.
• Lead cross-functional architecture definition across hardware, BIOS, embedded controller firmware, diagnostics, cloud services, client software, manageability tools, product management, and customer-facing teams.
• Anticipate emerging threats and technology shifts, including quantum-safe cryptography, platform attestation, supply-chain security, physical tamper resistance, peripheral authentication, and new non-volatile memory architectures.
• Partner with silicon vendors, operating-system providers, standards organizations, internal and external security research teams, and internal product teams to influence and align platform security direction.
• Support customer briefings, field escalations, competitive positioning, technical marketing, training events, and executive communications related to HP commercial PC platform security.
• Create specifications, proof-of-concepts, validation tools, scripts, demonstrations, and reference implementations that accelerate adoption of new security capabilities.
• Mentor engineers and technical leaders by sharing architectural context, reviewing designs, developing talent, and helping teams make practical tradeoffs among security, cost, schedule, customer experience, and portfolio impact.

Education & Experience

Recommended Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience. Extensive experience in PC, embedded, firmware, hardware, or platform system architecture, preferably in commercial client systems or security-sensitive devices. Demonstrated ability to architect solutions that span hardware, firmware, software, cloud services, manufacturing, and customer deployment environments. Deep technical understanding of BIOS/UEFI, embedded controllers, secure boot, firmware update and recovery flows, cryptographic signing, PKI based device identity, attestation, and secure configuration management. Experience defining product requirements, writing technical specifications, driving proof-of-concepts, and influencing roadmap decisions across multiple engineering teams. Ability to communicate complex technical ideas clearly to executive, engineering, customer, sales, and field audiences. Proven ability to lead through influence in a matrixed organization and to resolve ambiguity across competing business, technical, and customer priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with hardware based roots of trust, platform certificates, DICE/SPDM concepts, supply-chain assurance, quantum-safe cryptography, secure element or embedded security controller identity, and compliance or certification frameworks. Experience with enterprise endpoint manageability platforms such as Intune, SCCM, device-management consoles, or cloud-based key management services. Hands-on capability with scripting or development tools such as PowerShell, C#, Python, Java, GitHub, Visual Studio Code, or similar environments. Experience with customer-facing technical briefings, sales enablement, competitive analysis, standards participation, patent development, or external security ecosystem collaboration. Familiarity with commercial PC platform architecture, silicon vendor security technologies, Windows platform security, docking, peripheral security, battery authentication, telemetry, and right-to-repair considerations.

Critical Technical Domains

HP Endpoint Security Controller architecture, roadmap definition, cryptographic identity, attestation evidence, enhanced logging, and next-generation hardware requirements. HP Sure Start and firmware resilience, including hardware-enforced firmware authenticity, recovery, update protection, and quantum-safe firmware protection. HP Sure Admin and secure BIOS settings management, including key management, zero-touch provisioning, smart card or YubiKey authentication concepts, fine-grained authorization, and enterprise deployment workflows. Platform security roadmap planning across BIOS, embedded controller firmware, manufacturing diagnostics, endpoint management tools, and customer-facing security capabilities. Future-looking architecture areas such as target-attached flash, SPI-NAND, secure NV storage, peripheral authentication, SPDM requester/responder models, DICE-style identity, and post-quantum cryptography retrofits.

Leadership Expectations

Operate as a senior individual contributor who sets technical direction, creates architectural clarity, and helps HP prioritize the highest-value security investments. Build trust with cross-functional engineering teams by understanding implementation detail while keeping focus on the larger system architecture and customer outcome. Help convert exploratory concepts into practical product plans, proof-of-concepts, specifications, and production-ready capabilities. Represent HP platform security credibly in customer, partner, industry, and internal executive discussions. Develop and mentor technical talent so the organization can scale architectural knowledge and continue delivering differentiated security innovation.

Measures of Success

Clear, actionable architecture and roadmap for next-generation HP platform security capabilities. Successful delivery of security-controller, firmware-resilience, secure-management, and attestation capabilities into commercial PC products. Increased adoption of HP security capabilities by enterprise customers and improved ability for field teams to explain HP’s differentiated platform security value. Reduced ambiguity and improved prioritization across security-related product planning, engineering execution, and customer enablement efforts.

Growth of Technical Bench Strength

Growth of technical bench strength through mentoring, documentation, design reviews, and knowledge transfer.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Long term/short term disability insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible spending account
• Life insurance
• Generous time off policies
• 4-12 weeks fully paid parental leave based on tenure
• 11 paid holidays
• Additional flexible paid vacation and sick leave (US benefits overview)

Salary

The pay range for this role is 190,000.00 - 250,000.00 annually with additional opportunities for pay in the form of bonus and/or equity (applies to United States of America candidates only). Pay varies by work location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Job Information

Job - Software Schedule - Full time Shift - No shift premium (United States of America) Travel - Not Specified Relocation - Yes

Equal Opportunity Employer

Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO) - HP, Inc. provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and prospective employees, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, sexual orientation, age, disability, or status as a protected veteran, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic predisposition or carrier status, uniformed service status, political affiliation or any other characteristic protected by applicable national, federal, state, and local law(s). Please be assured that you will not be subject to any adverse treatment if you choose to disclose the information requested. This information is provided voluntarily. The information obtained will be kept in strict confidence. For more information, review HP’s EEO Policy or read about your rights as an applicant under the law here: "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal".