Firmware Engineer

Normal Computing Corporation; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Normal Computing is an applied AI company building foundational hardware and software for AI acceleration. We seek a Firmware Engineer to create low-level software for our SOC, bridging the hardware layer with higher-level software through a robust API.

You will work across hardware and software teams and design the development environment. If you have 5+ years in firmware, shipping experience, and strong communication, you could thrive here.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of firmware development experience.
• Experience creating a firmware development environment for a shipping product.
• Experience with multiple firmware languages and architectures.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop firmware for an embedded processor on an SoC to bridge software and hardware.
• Collaborate with software and hardware teams to define API requirements.
• Create and configure the development environment with compilers, simulators, and debuggers.
• Develop verification and stress tests to ensure production-grade firmware.

Skills

Firmware development

Firmware env setup

APIs & interfaces

Cross-functional comms

RTL/ASIC familiarity

Job description

Normal Computing | Build with Us

Normal is an applied AI company solving the hardest problems in AI and silicon. We build foundational hardware and software for the semiconductor industry, critical AI infrastructure, and the broader systems that power our world, in partnership with the world's most advanced institutions. We work as one team across New York City, Silicon Valley (Mountain View), London, Copenhagen, and Seoul.

The Role

As a Firmware Engineer at Normal, you will create low-level software to run on our SOC to provide an interface between our physics-inspired ASICs and higher software levels. You will have to develop code that runs on a microcontroller that provides an API layer for upper software levels to exercise our AI acceleration hardware. You will interface with the hardware and software design teams, understanding both the hardware and software architectures. You will debug in various prototyping and ASIC environments. For this role, you also have to specify and create the development environment. The through-line is your firmware expertise, applied to silicon and software stacks that compute differently from anything you have coded for before. This is a seat for a firmware engineer who wants their craft to compound rather than repeat.

What You Will Own

• Development of firmware for an embedded processor on an SOC: Create firmware to support an API that bridges higher-level software to the hardware layer.

• Work with software and hardware: Collaborate with software and hardware engineers to understand and specify the API requirements.

• Creation of the development environment: Acquire and configure appropriate tools to create the firmware, including compilers, simulators, and debuggers. Work across multiple development environments including software simulation, RTL simulation, and physical hardware.

• Verification of the firmware to a production level: Develop a verification and stress test plan and environment to guarantee production quality of the firmware

What Makes You a Great Fit

• 5+ years of experience in firmware development

• Specification and creation of a firmware development environment for a shipping product

• Expertise in various firmware languages and target architectures

• Excellent written and spoken communication skills

Bonus Points

• RISC-V experience

• FPGA and In-circuit debug

• Experience with AI acceleration hardware

• Hands-on use of LLMs or agentic tools in development workflows

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Normal Computing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. 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 legally protected status.

Accessibility Accommodations

Normal Computing is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know at [e-mail].

Privacy Notice

By submitting your application, you agree that Normal Computing may collect, use, and store your personal information for employment-related purposes in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice.