| Director, Firmware Engineering Location: San Jose, CA (onsite)
Ayar Labs is shattering AI data bottlenecks by moving data at the speed of light. As pioneers of co-packaged optics (CPO), we are using light instead of electricity to move data faster, further, and with a fraction of the energy needed to fuel the explosive growth of AI models.
Backed by industry giants like NVIDIA, AMD and Intel and manufactured in partnership with the world’s leading semiconductor ecosystem, Ayar Labs’ co-packaged optics solution is key to unleashing next-generation AI scale-up architectures.
We are seeking a Director of Firmware Engineering to lead our embedded firmware organization at the intersection of photonics and high-speed electronics. You will own the firmware strategy and execution for our silicon photonics platform, spanning transceiver control systems, optical DSP management, laser and modulator drivers, and system-level diagnostics. This is a rare opportunity to build and lead a team at the cutting edge of optical integration technology.
Essential Functions: - Build, motivate, lead and scale a firmware engineering team responsible for control plane software on photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based products.
- Define and own the firmware architecture strategy, establishing standards and best practices that scale across the organization. The firmware team is responsible for firmware driving closed loops in micro-ring modulators as well as laser bias control, thermal management etc.
- Drive firmware development for bring-up and characterization of silicon photonics ASICs and co-packaged optics (CPO), working closely with photonics, analog, and digital IC design teams as well as validation, platform engineering, and product and test engineering teams.
- Establish robust calibration and provisioning frameworks for device-to-device variation inherent in photonic manufacturing processes. Partner with process and packaging engineering to develop firmware strategies that accommodate PVT (process, voltage, temperature) compensation and aging effects in optical components.
- Define update strategies, secure boot, telemetry, and field diagnostics capabilities that meet the reliability expectations of hyperscalers.
- Develop and maintain firmware for management interfaces including CMIS, I2C, MDIO, SPI, and vendor-specific host interfaces used in hyperscaler and data center deployments.
- Drive technical decisions on embedded platforms, RTOSes, bootloaders, BSPs, device drivers, and communication protocols (UART, SPI, I2C, USB, BLE, etc.).
- Champion firmware quality, reliability, and security through code review processes, static analysis, unit testing, and CI/CD integration.
- Recruit, mentor, and retain top engineering talent; build a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Lead both local and remote employees across different time zones and geographies.
Required Qualifications: - Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Optical engineering or related field.
- 12+ years experience in firmware engineering with a minimum of 4+ years experience in engineering management role (Staff Manager or above).
- Deep proficiency in C/C++ for embedded microcontrollers (ARM Cortex-M, RISC-V, or similar); experience with bare-metal and RTOS environments.
- Working knowledge of high-speed optical transceiver architectures (SERDES, NRZ / PAM4 signaling etc.). Hands-on experience with control loop firmware for analog subsystems — microring control, laser bias current control, TEC/thermal regulation, APD/PD gain control, or equivalent.
- Proven experience leading firmware development on complex, consumer or industrial products that shipped in high volume (> 10M annually).
- Strong understanding of embedded hardware concepts — memory maps, peripheral interfaces, power management, real-time constraints.
- Proven ability to partner effectively with photonics, analog IC, and systems engineering disciplines.
- Experience bringing firmware from pre-silicon simulation through lab bring-up, manufacturing validation, and volume production.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills with ability to present complex technical information clearly and concisely to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
- Proficiency in firmware development and automation tools such as JIRA, Confluence, Jenkins etc..
Preferred Qualifications: - Familiarity with co-packaged optics (CPO) or photonic chiplet architectures. Understanding of optical IO technologies and their applications in the data center environment
- Exposure to manufacturing test firmware and ATE integration for photonic devices
- Experience with hyperscaler qualification processes (Meta, Google, Microsoft, AWS) and experience deploying firmware into datacenter-scale platforms
Salary range: $230,000 - $290,000 NOTE TO RECRUITERS:
Principals only. We are not accepting resumes from recruiters for this position. Remuneration for recruiting activities is only applicable subject to a signed and executed agreement between the parties. Please don’t send candidates to Ayar Labs, and do not contact our managers.
Ayar Labs is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is strongly committed to all policies which will afford equal opportunity employment to all qualified persons without regard to age, sex, national origin, race, color, ethnicity, creed, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. It is the policy of Ayar Labs to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. Veterans are more than welcome and encouraged to apply.
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