About the role
Position: Sr. Engineer, Embedded Firmware Location: San Jose, CA Job Id: 615 # of Openings: 0 Sr. Engineer, Embedded Firmware Location: San Jose, CA (on-site) 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 an exceptional Firmware Engineer to own the firmware development lifecycle for our groundbreaking products. In this critical role, you will drive firmware design from inception to customer deployment, ensuring seamless hardware validation and integration. This is a unique opportunity to leverage your expertise in embedded systems, multi-chip package environments, and high-speed SerDes to shape the future of optical interconnect. Essential Functions: Firmware Architecture: Collaborate closely with analog/mixed-signal, digital, and photonic block designers to develop sophisticated control algorithms for our photonic circuits and establish the micro-architecture and embedded
requirements for our multi-chip package systems. Drive embedded firmware development: Design, develop, and optimize firmware for controlling complex electronic-photonic chips featuring multiple high-speed SerDes. Provide Technical Leadership: Mentor and guide junior engineers, contributing to their professional growth and development. Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Partner effectively with diverse teams, including hardware, software, validation and systems engineers, to achieve project goals. Basic
Qualifications: Bachelor's in Electrical/Computer Engineering or a related field with 2+ years of experience. Proven expertise in bare-metal embedded firmware development, with strong programming skills in C. Hands-on, proactive approach with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic startup environment. Experience with various microcontrollers and firmware debugging tools. Proficiency with modern version control workflows (e.g., Git). Familiarity with project management tools (JIRA), and CI/CD tools. Preferred
Qualifications: Experience in embedded firmware development for high-speed electronics and photonics applications. Silicon bring-up experience for high-speed SerDes and photonics applications. Experience in scripting with high level language like Python. Experience with Make-based build flows. Writing firmware optimized for ARM CPUs. Ability to own architecture and development of firmware modules from scratch. Salary range: $160,000 - $192,000 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. Apply for this Position Go back to the job list
About Ayar Labs
Ayar Labs uses silicon photonics and microring-based architectures to increase bandwidth, reduce latency, and improve power efficiency in accelerator and XPU environments. The company’s TeraPHY optical engine integrates UCIe-based optical chiplets to enable high-throughput, low-power data transfer across extended distances within and between compute systems. Its SuperNova external light source provides multi-wavelength laser output designed for scalable, standards-based deployment. Ayar Labs supports disaggregated memory and scale-up architectures, enabling AI hardware systems to operate with higher interconnect density and accelerator utilization.
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Job details
Salary
$160,000 - $192,000
Location
San Jose, CA
Funding
Total raised
$870M
Last stage
Series E
Investors
Founders
What happens next.
No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.
Confirm the fit
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
I pitch you to the company
I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.
A meeting lands on your calendar
If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.
