Staff - Principal, Software Engineer, SDK

Eridu; Saratoga (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

A Silicon Valley-based hardware startup is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead SDK development for their switch ASICs. This role involves designing software interfaces, mentoring engineers, and ensuring performance readiness. Candidates should have a Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science/ECE with at least 5-10 years of relevant experience. The position offers a salary range between $210,000 and $275,000 annually, focused on groundbreaking AI technologies.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software development.
• Hands-on experience building firmware and software abstractions for networking ASICs.
• Familiarity with simulation environments and behavioral models such as BMv2.

Responsibilities

• Own the SDK architecture for custom switch ASICs.
• Design and implement key software interfaces for dataplane operations.
• Lead bring-up efforts for new silicon alongside firmware and hardware teams.

Skills

Expertise in L2 and L3 Ethernet switching and routing protocols

Coding expertise in C/C++/Python

Experience in SDK development for Ethernet switch silicon

Strong command of C/C++ in Linux-based environments

Education

Bachelor’s in Computer Science/ECE or Masters in CS/ECE

Job description

Staff - Principal, Software Engineer, SDK

Eridu is a Silicon Valley-based hardware startup pioneering infrastructure solutions that accelerate AI data centers to deliver Faster AI. Today’s AI performance is frequently limited by communication bottlenecks. Eridu introduces multiple industry-first innovations across silicon, packaging, software, and systems to deliver an order of magnitude improvement in performance and unlock greater GPU utilization to speed training job completion times and tokens-per-second for more profitable inference. We do this while simultaneously reducing capital and power costs and improving reliability.

The company’s solutions and value proposition have been widely validated by leading hyperscalers.

Eridu has raised over $200M to date including its most recent, oversubscribed Series A round. The company is led by a veteran team of Silicon Valley executives who have delivered multiple billion dollar product lines and led multiple companies to billion dollar exits, including serial entrepreneur Drew Perkins, co-founder of Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN), Lightera (acq. by Ciena), Gainspeed (acq. by Nokia) and Mojo Vision (the world’s leading micro-LED company). The company is in execution mode and has a world-class engineering team with decades of experience in state-of-the‑art silicon, packaging, optics, software, and systems. Eridu is working with best-in‑class supply chain partners including silicon, packaging and systems.

Visit our website eridu.ai to learn more.

Position Overview

We are looking for a Principal Engineer to lead the design and development of Software Development Kit (SDK), the critical abstraction layer between the hardware and software ecosystems. You will work across Silicon, System and NOS teams to ensure our high‑performance switch ASIC are performant and production ready.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the SDK architecture for Eridu’s custom switch ASICs, including HAL, abstraction layers, API models, and feature programming workflows.
• Design and implement key software interfaces to support dataplane operations like L2/L3 forwarding, ACLs, QOS, buffer management and telemetry.
• Work closely with ASIC architects to translate chip specifications and datapath designs into software‑programmable abstractions.
• Enable control plane integration with SONiC stack via OCP SAI or custom APIs.
• Lead bring‑up efforts for new silicon, working with firmware and hardware teams to validate functionality in simulation, emulation, and production systems.
• Define and enforce best practices for modular SDK design, automated testing, CI/CD pipelines and benchmarking frameworks.
• Mentor junior engineers and influence software direction across the switch software stack.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science/ECE with10+ years of experience or Masters in CS/ECE with5+ years of experience.
• Expertise in L2 and L3 Ethernet switching and routing protocols.
• Coding expertise in programming languages such as C/C++/Python.
• Switch/router embedded system software development experience.
• Experience in SDK development for Ethernet switch silicon.
• Experience in the following:
• L2 switching/forwarding areas such as LAG, VLAN, xSTP, LLDP, DC fabric switching, etc.
• L3 unicast/multicast routing protocols such as RIP, OSPF, IGMP, BGP, ISIS, etc.
• 10+ years of hands‑on experience building firmware and software abstractions for networking ASICs, SoCs and embedded platforms.
• Strong command of C/C++ in Linux‑based environments, familiarity with compiler toolchains and tools for profiling network latency and system performance.
• Experience with modern NOS like SONiC and familiarity with simulation environments and behavioral models such as BMv2 and proprietary RTL based ASIC simulations.

Why Join Us?

At Eridu, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of AI infrastructure, working with a world‑class team on groundbreaking technology that pushes the boundaries of AI performance. Your contributions will directly impact the next generation of AI infrastructure solutions, transforming the performance of AI data centers.

The starting base salary for the selected candidate will be established based on their relevant skills, experience, qualifications, work location, market trends, and the compensation of employees in comparable roles.

The pay range for this role is:

210,000 - 275,000 USD per year (San Francisco Bay Area)