SERDES Firmware Engineer

WHAT YOU DO AT AMD CHANGES EVERYTHING

At AMD, our mission is to build great products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences—from AI and data centers, to PCs, gaming and embedded systems. Grounded in a culture of innovation and collaboration, we believe real progress comes from bold ideas, human ingenuity and a shared passion to create something extraordinary. When you join AMD, you’ll discover the real differentiator is our culture. We push the limits of innovation to solve the world’s most important challenges—striving for execution excellence, while being direct, humble, collaborative, and inclusive of diverse perspectives. Join us as we shape the future of AI and beyond. Together, we advance your career.

The Role

AMD SerDes Technology team is seeking a SerDes Firmware Engineer with a strong passion for low-level firmware and a solid understanding of both electrical and optical physical-layer systems. In this role, you will design and develop firmware that bridges high-speed electrical SerDes, silicon photonics, and optical subsystems. You will work closely with firmware engineers, hardware designers, system architects, and validation teams to enable robust control, calibration, and optimization of next‑generation SerDes solutions integrating advanced photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and high‑performance electrical interfaces.

The Person

You are a firmware engineer with strong system intuition and a hands-on mindset, equally comfortable working close to hardware and collaborating across disciplines. You are a self‑motivated problem solver who thrives in fast‑paced, technically challenging environments and enjoys bringing up complex mixed‑signal systems. You communicate clearly across firmware, electrical, and optical domains, and you take pride in writing high‑quality, maintainable firmware that enables silicon at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and debug embedded firmware for high‑speed SerDes systems, spanning both electrical and optical domains.
• Implement firmware control for silicon photonic components, including modulators, photodetectors, lasers, heaters, and tunable optical elements.
• Develop firmware interfaces for electrical SerDes PHYs, including configuration, monitoring, diagnostics, and adaptation hooks.
• Define and implement calibration, bring‑up, and closed‑loop control algorithms (e.g., thermal tuning, bias control, signal optimization, link margining).
• Collaborate closely with electrical, optical, and mixed‑signal hardware teams to define control, telemetry, and debug requirements.
• Integrate firmware with lab test infrastructure, production test, and characterization systems to support validation and manufacturing.
• Support silicon bring‑up, debug, and performance tuning across pre‑silicon, post‑silicon, and production phases.

Preferred Experience

• Knowledge of physical layer specification in PCIe and IEEE 802.3
• Prior years of experience combined with technical education within the semiconductor industry
• Expert level experience producing quality firmware

Academic Credentials

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent

LOCATION: Markham, Ontario

Benefits offered are described: AMD benefits at a glance.

AMD does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies, or fee-based recruitment services. AMD and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity, inclusive employers and will consider all applicants without regard to age, ancestry, color, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, political and/or third-party affiliation, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates and will accommodate applicants’ needs under the respective laws throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

AMD may use Artificial Intelligence to help screen, assess or select applicants for this position. AMD’s “Responsible AI Policy” is available here.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.