Staff Engineer - Applications Software

Ambiq Micro, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Ambiq Micro, Inc. is seeking a Staff Applications Software Engineer, Power, to join our Austin team. You will collaborate across Architecture, Design, Validation, Sales, and Software to illustrate low-power advantages of Ambiq’s SoC portfolio and develop tools for power estimation and profiling.

The role requires hands-on embedded software development, strong Cortex-M expertise, and experience in power optimization for IoT devices. On-site in NW Austin.

Qualifications

• Experience developing embedded MCU code in C.
• Experience with embedded systems in real-time environments.
• Experience optimizing power efficiency in consumer electronics and IoT.
• Experience with Zephyr is a plus.
• Experience with at least one MCU IDE from ARM, Keil, IAR, SEGGER, or other.
• Familiarity with MCU peripherals including SPI, I2C, UART, ADC, USB, I2S, and PDM. MIPI and USB are a plus.
• Experience with Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy.
• Experience with short-range technologies including Zigbee and Thread is a plus.
• Hands‑on lab experience with equipment such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and power measurement equipment.
• Familiarity with source code control systems (git) required.
• Excellent problem-solving skills for complex system-level HW/SW debug issues.
• Experience with embedded graphics and display technologies is a plus.
• Scripting experience is required, and Python experience is especially desirable.
• Experience leveraging modern AI-assisted software development tools (e.g., Cursor, Codex, or similar) is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with product marketing, field engineering, validation, software development, and system test teams to develop power-related example applications, tools, and documentation.
• Support power optimization across AmbiqSuite and Zephyr SDK offerings; characterize SoC and system power use cases; and demonstrate our competitive advantage to the market.
• Design, debug, port, and analyze embedded microcontroller software drivers, algorithms, application code, board support packages, automated scripts, and test cases to provide the required functionality to end customers.
• Collaborate with internal development teams to analyze and debug complex system-level issues and develop software solutions.
• Assist customers in using the Ambiq SDK s and hardware platforms.
• Collaborate with hardware engineering in the architecture and design of hardware evaluation platforms; provide software for testing and debugging of hardware evaluation platforms.
• Develop custom software functions and applications to support microcontroller power and performance analysis and silicon-issue debugging.
• Bridge the communication between field and engineering teams for field issues and manage issue status tracking.

Skills

Embedded MCU C programming

Real-time embedded systems

Power optimization

Zephyr OS

MCU IDEs (ARM Keil IAR SEGGER)

Bluetooth/BLE

Zigbee/Thread

Scripting Python

Git version control

Debugging hardware/software

Education

MS in ECE or CS with 6+ years experience

BS in ECE/CS with 8+ years experience

Tools

Power measurement equipment

Logic analyzers / Oscilloscopes

SDKs and HALs for Cortex-M

Zephyr SDK

Version control (git)

Job description

Ambiqis on a mission to enable intelligence everywhere — powering the AI edge revolution with the world's lowest-power semiconductor solutions.

Built on our proprietary sub- and near-threshold technology, our chips deliver multi-fold improvements in energy efficiency without costly process scaling. Since 2010, we've shipped over 300 million units to customers building smarter wearables, medical devices, IoT products, and AI-powered edge applications.

Our cross-functional teams span design, research, development, production, marketing, sales, and operations across Austin, Hsinchu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore. We move fast, tackle hard problems, and create space for people to grow through complex, meaningful work that shapes the future of technology.

We're looking for self-motivated, creative problem-solvers who are eager to push technological limits and make a real impact in energy efficiency.

At Ambiq, we live by five values:Innovate. Collaborate. Focus. Learn. Achieve.

If that's you, join us — the intelligence everywhere revolution starts here.

This role will be on-site 5 days a week in NW Austin.

Scope

As the Staff Applications Software Engineer, Power at Ambiq, you will work with Architecture, Design, Validation, Sales, Software Engineering, and field teams to demonstrate the low-power advantages of Ambiq’s SoC portfolio. You will develop examples and tools for power estimation and measurement, support power characterization and profiling for system use cases, and help customers optimize SoC power efficiency. Your work will also include example applications for Ambiq and customer evaluation hardware, device drivers, HAL updates, and Zephyr enablement in the most power-efficient way. You will debug device-level software issues, support field engineers with customer issues, and create customer-facing documentation, including application notes and software design guidelines.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned, hands-on engineer with a strong understanding of embedded development on Cortex-M MCUs, low-power techniques, bare-metal and real-time operating systems, and embedded software debugging. They communicate clearly in writing and in person, learn quickly, thrive in a lab environment, enjoy solving challenging engineering problems, and continually seek to improve products and engineering processes.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with product marketing, field engineering, validation, software development, and system test teams to develop power-related example applications, tools, and documentation;
• Support power optimization across AmbiqSuite and Zephyr SDK offerings; characterize SoC and system power use cases; and demonstrate our competitive advantage to the market.
• Design, debug, port, and analyze embedded microcontroller software drivers, algorithms, application code, board support packages, automated scripts, and test cases to provide the required functionality to end customers.
• Collaborate with internal development teams to analyze and debug complex system-level issues and develop software solutions.
• Assist customers in using the Ambiq SDK s and hardware platforms.
• Collaborate with hardware engineering in the architecture and design of hardware evaluation platforms; provide software for testing and debugging of hardware evaluation platforms.
• Develop custom software functions and applications to support microcontroller power and performance analysis and silicon-issue debugging.
• Bridge the communication between field and engineering teams for field issues and manage issue status tracking.

Qualifications

• MS in ECE or Computer Science with 6+ years of experience, or a BS in ECE/CS with 8+ years of experience.
• Required: Experience developing embedded MCU code in C.
• Experience with embedded systems in real-time environments.
• Experience optimizing power efficiency in consumer electronics and IoT applications.
• Experience with Zephyr is a plus.
• Experience with at least one MCU IDE from ARM, Keil, IAR, SEGGER, or other.
• Familiarity with MCU peripherals including SPI, I2C, UART, ADC, USB, I2S, and PDM. MIPI and USB are a plus.
• Experience with Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy.
• Experience with short-range technologies including Zigbee and Thread is a plus.
• Hands‑on lab experience with equipment such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and power measurement equipment.
• Familiarity with source code control systems (git) required.
• Excellent problem-solving skills for complex system-level HW/SW debug issues.
• Experience with embedded graphics and display technologies is a plus.
• Scripting experience is required, and Python experience is especially desirable.
• Experience leveraging modern AI-assisted software development tools (e.g., Cursor, Codex, or similar) is desirable.

Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer. We do not sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas (now or in the future) for this role.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Ambiq Micro, Inc.’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.