Principal Firmware Engineer

CHEP; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

CHEP is seeking a Principal Firmware Engineer to lead embedded software for tracking devices in a hybrid Santa Clara/Manchester role. You will own firmware features, optimize performance, and collaborate across hardware, cloud, and customer success teams to deliver robust solutions.

You will guide architecture, develop in C/C++ on microcontrollers/SoCs with FreeRTOS or Zephyr, and mentor a growing firmware group while translating customer needs into actionable product features.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of embedded software development experience.
• Experience with FreeRTOS or Zephyr or similar OS.
• BS/MS in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• Experience with embedded/IoT firmware platforms and SoCs.
• Experience leading complex features across multiple teams.
• Knowledge of communication protocols: TCP/IP, Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi.
• Experience with sensors and GPS in IoT devices.

Responsibilities

• Define and own technical features for firmware with a focus on performance, power, and security.
• Write and debug embedded C/C++ for microcontrollers, microprocessors, and SoCs.
• Collaborate with hardware teams to bring up new hardware and ensure firmware interaction.
• Establish best practices for code quality, documentation, and automated testing.
• Translate customer requirements into firmware features and improvements.
• Develop tracking and sensor telemetry apps for LPWAN or Cellular IoT networks.

Skills

Embedded C/C++

Firmware development

Debugging

System integration

Leadership

TCP/IP/WiFi/Bluetooth

Sensor integration

LPWAN/IoT

Education

B.S. or M.S. in CS/EE

Tools

FreeRTOS

Zephyr

SoCs

Lab instrumentation

Job description

Principal Firmware Engineer- Santa Clara/Manchester (Hybrid)

Our Digital group is enabling the future by using data and insights to power smarter, more sustainable supply chains. A key part of this strategy is the development of the tracking device platforms that will enable these data and insights to be collected – and the Firmware team is at the heart of this transformation.

In this role, you will demonstrate good development practices and seamless collaboration across multiple teams in Digital and beyond. Engineering for device systems spans deep collaboration across engineering disciplines (Hardware design, Test, Architects, Technical Project Management, and Cloud software teams). Our engineers drive concepts into prototypes and prototypes to products.

The Principal Firmware Engineer provides thought leadership in execution for corporate projects but also is a strong voice of the customer. We expect this individual to represent Customer configuration, firmware modifications, feature development and work closely with Customer Success leadership to ensure we have a customer first approach and our solutions delight our customers.

This will include setting up custom configuration database, define modification levers, if needed, create a software UI/UX for customers working closely with customer-facing teams. This could also include some customer visits, representing the company at customer sites and translating business requirements into features for internal development to deliver.

The role also has the responsibility for building and strengthening the firmware engineering team and its capabilities.

Scope

• Work closely with team design efforts for Firmware Projects.
• This includes all Digital device portfolio projects (Ultra, Scout, Pulse), Engineering POC, Cloud side implementation for device management and device administration which contribute to all of Asset Digitization programs including Continuous Diagnostics, Targeted Diagnostics, Serialization+ & Digital Commercial Services
• Responsible for customer configuration management which will be done working closely with the commercial/sales team as well as Customer Success team.

Key Responsibilities

• Architecture & Design: Define and own the technical features for firmware, optimizing for performance, power, and security.
• Development & Debugging: Write and debug complex embedded C/C++ code for microcontrollers, microprocessors, and SoCs.
• System Integration: Collaborate with hardware teams to bring up new hardware, interpret schematics, and ensure smooth hardware/firmware interaction.
• Technical Leadership: Establish best practices for code quality, documentation, and automated testing.
• Problem Solving: Resolve complex, system-level issues that span across firmware, hardware, and software interfaces
• Develop tracking and sensor telemetry applications for real-time Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) or Cellular IoT networks
• Develop, coordinate and implement improvements in software development methodology and leading practices including requirements definition, specification development, and unit test strategies.
• Be a strong voice of customer for customer features, configuration changes and debugs working with Customer support teams.
• Develop tracking and sensor telemetry applications for real-time Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) or Cellular IoT networks

Qualification

• Experience with embedded software design and programming in C/C++ for development, debugging, testing and performance analysis
• 8-12 years of experience in embedded software development
• Experience working with embedded/IOT firmware platforms with FreeRTOS or Zephyr or similar OS.
• Experience building software for embedded/IOT systems or custom SoCs
• Experience leading complex features or projects across multiple teams
• B.S. or M.S degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering or equivalent experience
• Experience with lab instrumentation for power, performance tuning, SDKs, analyzers for debugging IOT systems
• Experience delivering electronics devices in Consumer, IOT, Embedded markets
• Demonstrated expertise in one or several of the following areas - communication protocols (TCP/IP, Bluetooth, Wifi), computer vision, sensors, cellular

EXPERIENCE

• 8/12 years of related experience in embedded systems.

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Play a critical role in the definition and execution of firmware projects
• Analyze, design, develop, and debug firmware for a wide variety of tracking devices, including GPS, Cellular, Wi-Fi/Ble
• Be a go-to person for complex development, performance and evaluation issues that require in-depth knowledge of product-focused firmware development
• Align long-term vision with short term priorities
• Knowledge of communication protocols: I2C, SPI, USART, I2S, PCM.
• Experience with sensors, accelerometers, gyro, GPS, humidity, temperature
• Experience with Wi-Fi, BLE, and Cellular IoT solutions is a plus.