[Remote] Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer — AI/HPC Networking Silicon

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Cornelis Networks develops high-performance fabric solutions for AI and HPC. The Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer will architect and develop management firmware for next-generation networking silicon, including secure firmware loading, engine bring-up, and platform-level embedded architecture, while providing technical leadership and mentorship.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement bare-metal C firmware on a RISC-V management core that provisions, boots, and supervises arrays of on-chip acceleration engines
• Own the secure firmware-loading pipeline: fetch images from flash, coordinate hardware root-of-trust authentication, and distribute verified images into each engine's local memories through on-chip fan-out/DMA hardware
• Build per-engine bring-up, reset sequencing, and health validation driven by control/status registers, with solid timeout and error handling and enforced security invariants
• Scale firmware distribution and bring-up across many engines and multiple dies, including runtime re-boot and in-field firmware updates
• Define the hardware/software contract with ASIC/RTL teams using a datamodel-first workflow (e.g., SystemRDL, Kaitai, YAML → generated code)
• Validate firmware against functional simulators (e.g., QEMU) with automated unit and integration tests
• Set architecture standards, review designs and code, and mentor engineers

Skills

• 10+ years of embedded/firmware engineering, with a track record of software architecture and technical leadership
• Expert C (C++ a plus) and working Python
• Deep experience with bare-metal firmware on constrained cores, including manually managed local memories and low level bring-up
• Experience with secure boot / image authentication and hardware root-of-trust integration
• Experience programming hardware CSRs and co-designing register-level interfaces with silicon teams
• Demonstrated, hands-on AI-assisted engineering proficiency, plus the judgment to validate what the AI produces
• RISC-V firmware and toolchain experience
• Firmware orchestration for multi-core accelerator arrays
• Hardware root-of-trust ecosystems (e.g., Caliptra) and SHA-2/signature verification
• Code-generation toolchains (SystemRDL, Kaitai, CMake) and simulator-based co-verification
• Familiarity with emerging AI/HPC interconnect standards: Ultra Ethernet (UEC), UALink, and ESUN
• Background in HPC/AI networking, RDMA, or libfabric

Benefits

• Equity
• Depending on your role, you may also be eligible for performance-based incentives, including an annual bonus or sales incentives.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Disability and life insurance
• Dependent care flexible spending account
• Accidental injury insurance
• Pet insurance
• Generous paid holidays
• 401(k) with company match
• Open Time Off (OTO) for regular full-time exempt employees
• Sick time
• Bonding leave
• Pregnancy disability leave
• Fully supports remote work for employees residing within the United States
• A dynamic, flexible work environment

Company Overview

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