Staff Embedded Software Engineer - Cork, Ireland

Company:

QT Technologies Ireland Limited

Job Area:

Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering

General Summary:

About the Role

We are seeking a Staff Embedded Software Engineer to join our Data Center AI Software team and develop low-level firmware and platform software for next-generation data center and cloud-scale AI/compute systems.

You will own the design and delivery of significant firmware features, contribute to platform architecture, and lead complex integration and debugging within one or more technical domains. You will remain hands-on in design, coding, testing, and issue resolution while coordinating effectively across hardware, system software, infrastructure, and validation teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the architecture, design, implementation, integration, and maintenance of substantial firmware features across SoC, board, and platform levels.
• Lead technical execution within one or more areas such as inter-processor communication, transport and connectivity layers, telemetry, diagnostics; logging, high-speed debug traces, profiling tools, SR-IOV, virtualization, time synchronization, or platform services.
• Drive SoC and platform bring-up activities, including hardware/software integration, validation, and resolution of complex system-level issues.
• Produce high-quality C/C++ code, unit tests, design documentation, and validation plans in a structured software development environment.
• Lead focused design and code reviews; identify technical risks, clarify tradeoffs, and help teams converge on practical solutions.
• Perform root-cause analysis using JTAG, trace, logs, instrumentation, and other embedded debugging tools; drive durable corrective actions.
• Improve debuggability, observability, test automation, continuous integration, and pre-silicon/post-silicon validation practices within the team.
• Collaborate with hardware, Linux, RTOS, infrastructure, security, validation, and product teams to deliver production-ready firmware.
• Support customer and production issue resolution, including field debugging and clear communication of findings and corrective actions.
• Mentor engineers through technical guidance, design feedback, debugging support, and sharing of domain knowledge.
• Contribute to technical planning and roadmap discussions by identifying dependencies, scalability needs, and platform-level risks.
• Promote engineering quality and continuous improvement by applying and scaling effective development practices across related projects.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of experience in embedded firmware or low-level system software development.
• Strong proficiency in C/C++; working knowledge of scripting languages such as Python or Bash.
• Demonstrated experience designing and delivering complex firmware features from requirements through integration and validation.
• Experience with SoC bring-up, board support packages, device drivers, boot loaders, hardware/software integration, or system-level debugging.
• Strong understanding of computer and SoC architecture, including memory hierarchy, interrupts, DMA, coherency, interconnects, caches, and common peripheral interfaces.
• Experience debugging embedded systems using tools such as JTAG/SWD, trace, logs, emulators, serial debuggers, or logic analyzers.
• Experience working in Linux-based development environments and/or with an RTOS.
• Ability to communicate technical decisions clearly and collaborate effectively across international, multi-site teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing firmware for datacenter, cloud, AI accelerator, or other high-performance compute platforms.
• Expertise in one or more areas: inter-processor communication; transport and connectivity layers; telemetry; diagnostics; logging; high-speed debug traces; profiling tools; SR-IOV; virtualization; time synchronization, platform services; performance optimization; platform management; or firmware CI/CD and automation.
• Experience with high-speed interfaces or interconnects such as PCIe or LPDDR.
• Experience with Embedded Linux build systems such as Yocto, Buildroot, or OpenEmbedded, and familiarity with Linux kernel development practices.
• Experience with source and configuration management tools such as Git and Gerrit, plus unit testing, code coverage, static analysis, and performance analysis.
• Experience collaborating with external partners, silicon vendors, original design manufacturers, or manufacturing teams.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions across adjacent teams without relying on formal authority.

Leadership Expectations (Staff Level)

• Act as the technical owner for significant features or a defined firmware area, making sound design decisions and escalating broader architectural choices when appropriate.
• Balance hands-on implementation with technical coordination, contributing at code, design, integration, and debug levels.
• Build alignment across a multi-team dependency set and ensure interfaces, assumptions, deliverables, and risks are clearly understood.
• Mentor engineers and raise engineering quality through constructive reviews, reusable guidance, and practical technical leadership.
• Anticipate integration and lifecycle risks within the owned area and drive mitigation before they impact platform delivery.
• Contribute to architecture and roadmap direction through evidence-based recommendations, while partnering with Senior Staff technical leaders on cross-domain strategy.

Equal Opportunities

We are an Equal Opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any protected classification.

What's on Offer

Apart from working in an open, relaxed and collaborative space, you will enjoy:

• Salary, stock and performance related bonus
• Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Employee stock purchase scheme
• Matching pension scheme
• Education Assistance
• Relocation and immigration support (if needed)
• Life, Medical, Income and Travel Insurance
• Subsidised memberships for physical and mental well-being
• Bicycle purchase scheme
• Employee run clubs, including, running, football, chess, badminton + many more

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.

• 2+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.

*References to a particular number of years experience are for indicative purposes only. Applications from candidates with equivalent experience will be considered, provided that the candidate can demonstrate an ability to fulfill the principal duties of the role and possesses the required competencies.

Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.

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