Technical Leader — Embedded Control Systems & Firmware

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; Maynard (MA); On-site; USD 166,000 - 238,000; Full time

Job summary

Acacia (part of Cisco) is the industry leader in high-speed coherent optical transceivers and pluggable optical interconnects, powering hyperscale clouds and global networks with unprecedented bandwidth.

Joining Acacia’s Software team in Maynard, MA means collaborating with world-class engineers to push the physical and algorithmic boundaries of optical networking. The role centers on real-time embedded firmware, PID control, and robust software for optical modules.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Electronics, or Computer Engineering or related field with 8+ years of professional experience.
• 6+ years in low‑level embedded C and C++ programming for physical hardware control.
• 5+ years development of embedded firmware on bare‑metal systems and RTOS (VxWorks, FreeRTOS, ThreadX, or similar).
• Design, implementation and tuning real‑time control systems (e.g., PID, motion/thermal) on embedded microcontrollers (ARM Cortex‑M or Cortex‑R).
• Ability to work 100% onsite during the initial one‑year onboarding period, with hybrid flexibility thereafter.

Responsibilities

• Design, tune, and optimize real‑time closed‑loop control algorithms (PID, motion control, temperature, and optical power stabilization) operating directly on bare‑metal and RTOS microcontroller platforms.
• Develop highly efficient, compact embedded C/C++ firmware to configure, monitor, and calibrate hardware subsystems across ARM Cortex‑M and Cortex‑R cores.
• Work closely with Hardware, Optics, and Calibration teams to bring up new boards, characterize feedback loops, and debug electro‑optical interactions.
• Implement firmware state machines, low‑level peripheral drivers, and high‑reliability data/control paths.
• Own critical firmware features from algorithm simulation to production release, ensuring the highest reliability under demanding and optical conditions.

Skills

Embedded C/C++

RTOS programming

Control systems

PID control

ARM Cortex-M/R

Bare-metal firmware

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronics/Computer Engineering

Tools

VxWorks

FreeRTOS

ThreadX

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Acacia (part of Cisco) is the industry leader in high-speed coherent optical transceivers and pluggable optical interconnects, powering hyperscale clouds and global networks with unprecedented bandwidth.

Joining Acacia’s Software team in Maynard, MA means collaborating with world-class engineers to push the physical and algorithmic boundaries of optical networking. The role centers on real-time embedded firmware, PID control, and robust software for optical modules.