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Staff Engineer, Firmware Developer

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tenstorrent is leading the industry on cutting-edge AI technology, revolutionizing performance expectations, ease of use, and cost efficiency. With AI redefining the computing paradigm, solutions must evolve to unify innovations in software models, compilers, platforms, networking, and semiconductors. Our diverse team of technologists have developed a high performance RISC-V CPU from scratch, and share a passion for AI and a deep desire to build the best AI platform possible. We value collaboration, curiosity, and a commitment to solving hard problems. We are growing our team and looking for contributors of all seniorities.

In this role, you will be responsible for designing and developing robust and reliable firmware for our various AI products. You will work closely with cross-functional teams throughout the planning, architecting, development, and production stages of the program.

This role is hybrid, based out of Toronto, Canada, but we are also open to remote candidates on a case by case status.

We welcome candidates at various experience levels for this role. During the interview process, candidates will be assessed for the appropriate level, and offers will align with that level, which may differ from the one in this posting.

 

Responsibilities:

Firmware Design and Development

• Design, develop, and debug firmware for embedded microprocessors in current and next-generation AI products.
• Work with cross-functional teams to define firmware architecture and features at both chip level and board level. 
• Design reliable and robust sequences (such as power-up, reset, boot loading, power management, thermal control, link training, margining, calibration, etc.) that are easy to debug and reuse.
• Integrate and make internal and external open-source releases. 
• Improve and maintain CI/CD flow, provide debug support when needed. 
• Review and provide feedback on firmware, software, and hardware design specifications. 

Debugging & Troubleshooting

• Support the firmware lab debug process, analyze the issues, reproduce the failures, implement the fixes, and verify the fixes. 
• Use hardware and software tools (e.g., JTAG, internal scripts, open-source tools) to root-cause issues and collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve them.
• Innovate debugging mechanisms across various firmware components. 

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with hardware/software design and testing teams to ensure on-timefirmware deliverables with good quality.
• Communicate smoothly and collaborate closely with external manufacturing partners, deliver robust firmware code to enable the mass production on time. 
• Provide feedback to board and software design teams regarding potential improvements.
• Document the firmware architecture for cross-team communications and future use.

Support & Reporting

• Optimize firmware code to support internal engineering and external manufacturing.
• Regularly update technical leads and other stakeholders on firmware development progress.

 

Experience & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer engineering or computer science (or related field) with 5+ years of experience in semiconductor SoC/IP firmware, embedded systems, or a similar technical area.
• Proficiency and practical knowledge in working with embedded computing systems, including various hardware interfaces such as JTAG, I2C, SMBus, SPI, IPMI, UART, GPIO, PCIe, Ethernet, DDR, etc.
• Proficiency in C, C++, Python, and shell scripting for development, automation, and debugging.
• Proven experience of programming firmware on RISC-V and other modern microprocessors.
• Experience of writing and testing highly reliable firmware with one or more RTOSes. A proven track record contributing to Zephyr RTOS is preferred. 
• Experience of debugging firmware on pre-silicon (emulation) and post-silicon (lab) environment with industry-standard tools. 
• In-depth knowledge in hardware architecture, chip/board power up sequence, and hardware/software interactions. 
• Experience on Linux build environment. 
• Understanding of processor and Enterprise system-level architectures.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

 

Nice to Have:

• Experience with high-speed I/O enablement and debug (e.g., Ethernet, PCIe, DDR) is a plus.
• Familiarity with continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) pipelines for DevOps and test automation is a plus.
• Understanding of schematics and board layout is a plus.
• Exposure to RTL design and verification methodologies (e.g., SystemVerilog, UVM) is helpful. 
• Experience of working with multi-die chiplets is advantageous.

 

Tenstorrent offers a highly competitive compensation package and benefits, and we are an equal opportunity employer.

Due to U.S. Export Control laws and regulations, Tenstorrent is required to ensure compliance with licensing regulations when transferring technology to nationals of certain countries that have been licensing conditions set  by the U.S. government.

As this position will have direct and/or indirect access to information, systems, or technologies that are subject to U.S. Export Control laws and regulations, please note that citizenship/permanent residency, asylee and refugee information and supporting documentation will be required and considered as a condition of employment.

If a U.S. export license is required, employment will not begin until a license with acceptable conditions is granted by the U.S. government.  If a U.S. export license with acceptable conditions is not granted by the U.S. government, then the offer of employment will be rescinded.

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