Firmware Engineering Manager

Astera Labs Inc., a semiconductor company headquartered in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, is a leader in purpose-built connectivity solutions for data-centric systems throughout the data center. Partnering with leading processor vendors, cloud service providers, seasoned investors, and world-class manufacturing companies, Astera Labs is helping customers remove performance bottlenecks in data-intensive systems that are limiting the true potential of applications such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company’s product portfolio includes system-aware semiconductor integrated circuits, boards, and services to enable robust CXL, PCIe, and Ethernet connectivity. As an Astera Labs Firmware Engineering Manager, you will lead a team whose responsibilities include: Architect SoC microcontroller subsystems Plan and implement firmware features during SoC development Co-develop SoC hardware/firmware interfaces together with RTL designers Co-simulate RTL and firmware, identify bugs and enhancements, and work with design and verification teams to implement changes Plan and execute post-silicon firmware feature testing and customer roll-out Develop post-silicon FW regression testing methodology to qualify each customer release Work with tier-1 cloud service provider (CSP) customers to specify and implement CSP-specific firmware functionality Maintain a lightweight set of collateral/documentation to enable other functions to have a basic understanding of the structure and functionality of the SoC firmware and microcontroller subsystem Required Qualifications/Experience Strong technical background in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and/or computer science ≥5 years’ experience supporting and/or developing firmware for complex SoC/silicon products, preferably products in Compute, Networking, or Storage applications Solid understanding of and direct work experience with microcontroller subsystems on an SoC (e.g., ARM, Arc, Tensilica, SiFive, 8051, etc.), including memory access, interrupt interfaces, timers, etc. Experience implementing and driving internal methodologies for coding style consistency and documentation (e.g., Doxygen) Professional attitude with the ability to prioritize a dynamic set of tasks, to plan and prepare for customer/internal meetings in advance, and to work with minimal guidance and supervision Entrepreneurial, open-mind behavior and can-do attitude. Think and act with the customer in mind! Preferred Qualifications/Experience Experience leading a small team in a “lead by example” manner—planning sprints, assigning tasks based on individuals’ strengths and career aspirations, providing constructive/encouraging feedback, maintaining a “dashboard” view of project status, chipping in to shore up gaps in execution as needed, etc. Experience writing firmware to control and/or monitor SerDes interfaces Experience writing firmware related to PCI-Express and/or Ethernet interfaces on an SoC Understanding of PCI-Express Link Training and Status State Machine (LTSSM) and 100/200/400/800G Ethernet Experience with agile development flows and associated tools (e.g., Atlassian Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket) We know that creativity and innovation happen more often when teams include diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences, and we actively encourage everyone with relevant experience to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities.