Firmware Development Engineer

Summary: VIAVI (NASDAQ: VIAV) is a global provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for telecommunications, cloud, enterprises, first responders, military, aerospace, and railway. VIAVI is also a leader in light management technologies for 3D sensing, anti-counterfeiting, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, government and aerospace applications.

About the Role

As a Senior Firmware Developer at VIAVI Solutions, you will design, develop, debug, and maintain embedded firmware for the MAP modular optical test platform and its cassette ecosystem. The MAP platform is a rack‑mounted chassis hosting hot‑swappable optical test modules (cassettes) covering a broad range of fiber optic test and measurement applications.

You will work across multiple cassette architectures as well as chassis‑level infrastructure including FPGA bridges, microcontrollers, and Linux kernel/driver integration.

Key Responsibilities

• Cassette Firmware Development
  • Develop and maintain firmware for ARM‑based cassettes (embedded Linux, C/C++) and DSP‑based cassettes (uClinux, C/C++)
  • Implement SCPI command protocol handlers for instrument control and measurement data acquisition
  • Develop multi‑threaded real‑time signal processing pipelines using FFT, DSP, and SIMD optimizations
  • Interface with optical hardware components via I2C, SPI, UART, and USB
• FPGA Interfacing & Development
  • Interface cassette firmware with FPGA co‑processors for signal processing, optical triggering, and hardware acceleration via memory‑mapped registers
  • Maintain and enhance the MAP platform PCIe bridge FPGA (Verilog) which provides bus translation between the host processor and cassette backplane
  • Debug FPGA register‑level interactions and timing issues across SPI and PCIe domains
• Microcontroller Firmware
  • Develop firmware for bridge board microcontrollers (C) that manage FPGA programming, card‑present detection, I2C register interfaces, and chassis power sequencing
  • Maintain power management microcontroller firmware controlling chassis power rails, standby/power‑cycle sequencing, and watchdog functionality
• Kernel & System‑Level Work
  • Contribute to Linux kernel and device tree customization on the chassis controller
  • Debug and resolve hardware‑software integration issues including I2C bus contention, display pipeline conflicts, IRQ handling, and power management
  • Develop and maintain system services, udev rules, and shell scripts for chassis lifecycle management (boot, hot‑plug, reboot, shutdown)
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration
  • Work closely with hardware engineers on board bring‑up, schematic review, and signal integrity debugging
  • Collaborate with the software team on communication between cassette firmware and the web GUI / front panel applications
  • Support manufacturing with calibration firmware, production test scripts, and factory provisioning tools
  • Leverage AI‑augmented development workflows (e.g., AI coding assistants) to accelerate firmware development, debugging, analysis and unit‑testing

Required Qualifications

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
• 7+ years of embedded firmware development experience
• Strong proficiency in C and C++ for embedded systems (bare‑metal and Linux)
• Hands‑on experience with ARM and/or DSP processor architectures
• Experience with FPGA interfacing (register‑level, SPI/I2C/memory‑mapped I/O); HDL (Verilog or VHDL) reading ability preferred
• Solid understanding of serial communication protocols: I2C, SPI, UART, USB
• Experience with embedded Linux (kernel configuration, device trees, cross‑compilation, driver development)
• Proficiency with debugging tools: JTAG, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, serial consoles
• Familiarity with version control (Git) and CI/CD build systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with DSP platforms and real‑time signal processing (FFT, filtering, spectral analysis)
• Experience with Xilinx Zynq or similar ARM+FPGA SoC development
• Experience with AVR or similar 8‑bit microcontrollers
• Knowledge of SCPI protocol and test & measurement instrument firmware
• Experience with fiber optic components and optical test instrumentation
• Experience with PCIe protocol and bridge design
• Knowledge of RTOS concepts (FreeRTOS, uClinux, or similar)
• Experience with Docker‑based embedded build environments and Buildroot/Yocto
• Familiarity with Debian packaging and systemd service architecture
• Experience with AI‑augmented development tools and workflows

Pay range: $86,929 – $161,439. Exceptional qualifications, experience and location may impact salary. VIAVI offers a competitive benefits package that includes paid time off, health, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and a bonus program.

VIAVI Solutions is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer – minorities/females/veterans/persons with disabilities.