R&D Firmware Engineer

Overview

Keysight is at the forefront of technology innovation, delivering breakthroughs and trusted insights in electronic design, simulation, prototyping, test, manufacturing, and optimization. Our ~15, employees create world-class solutions in communications, 5G, automotive, energy, quantum, aerospace, defense, and semiconductor markets for customers in over countries. Learn more about what we do.

Our award-winningculture embraces a bold vision of where technology can take us and a passion for tackling challenging problems with industry-first solutions. We believe that when people feel a sense of belonging, they can be more creative, innovative, and thrive at all points in their careers.

As a Firmware Engineer, you will contribute to the design, development, and enhancement of embedded firmware for photonic measurement and analysis systems. Working closely with R&D teams and product stakeholders, you will help translate customer and product requirements into robust firmware solutions that support reliable and high-performance products.

In this role, you will implement and maintain key firmware features and components, collaborate with hardware and software engineers to ensure effective system integration, and support architectural decisions by providing technical input and practical implementation expertise. You will also contribute to high firmware quality, compliance, performance, and maintainability across the product platform while continuously developing your technical expertise.

Responsibilities

As a Firmware Engineer, you will contribute to the design, development, and enhancement of embedded firmware for photonic measurement and analysis systems. Working closely with R&D teams and product stakeholders, you will help translate customer and product requirements into robust firmware solutions that support reliable and high-performance products.

In this role, you will implement and maintain key firmware features and components, collaborate with hardware and software engineers to ensure effective system integration, and support architectural decisions by providing technical input and practical implementation expertise. You will also contribute to high firmware quality, compliance, performance, and maintainability across the product platform while continuously developing your technical expertise.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the design and implementation of complex firmware features and subsystems, supporting delivery from technical concept through production and lifecycle support.
• Partner with cross-functional teams (hardware, software, systems, and product) to translate requirements into robust system-level designs and well-justified technical solutions.
• Set a high bar for firmware quality by following best practices in design, testing, documentation, and maintainability, and by proactively reducing technical debt.
• Resolve critical and complex system issues, providing technical expertise in debugging, performance optimization, and overall system stability.
• Continuously deepen knowledge of embedded technologies and apply it to architecture, performance, and long-term sustainability of firmware platforms.
• Participate in code reviews and technical discussions and actively maintain high engineering standards.

Qualifications

Essential:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of experience in embedded and firmware development within a professional R&D environment.
• Expertise in C/C++ for embedded systems, including debugging and performance analysis.
• Experience with embedded Linux and firmware running on complex hardware platforms.
• Strong understanding of firmware design principles, system architecture, and maintainable embedded software design.
• Experience with modern development practices, including version control and CI/CD pipelines.
• Ability to own complex firmware components, working independently while aligning with system architecture and product strategy.
• Understanding of physical and measurement principles, with the ability to apply this knowledge in a firmware and system engineering context.
• Excellent communication skills in a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary environment.
• Strong command of English in written and spoken communication.

Preferred:

• Experience with real-time systems and close interaction with hardware components and drivers.
• Experience with bare-metal software development on embedded platforms.
• Initial exposure to optical and/or photonic systems and related technologies.
• Working knowledge of the Python programming language for scripting, automation, or development tasks.
• First FPGA / VHDL development knowledge.
• Experience with automated testing for embedded systems.
• Knowledge of communication interfaces such as I2C, SPI, Ethernet, and related protocols.

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