Scope  

As the Staff Applications Software Engineer, Zephyr at Ambiq, you will drive the development and testing of Ambiq’s Zephyr software offering. This includes porting new Ambiq SoCs to the Zephyr environment and enabling hardware evaluation platforms, staying up-to-date with the latest Zephyr developments and maintaining Ambiq SoC compliance, building new samples and drivers, and driving power optimizations to best showcase our ultra-low power technology. 

This role will work within our Applications Engineering Team and will work closely with the global MCU software team.  

 The successful candidate should be a fast-learning, result-driven, and self-motivated team player with an “always learning” mindset. They should have an inquiring spirit and be comfortable in a lab environment and in executing hands-on debugging for embedded systems.  

 The person in this role will be responsible for leading Ambiq’s Zephyr software development and testing, coordinating with the global team to make improvements and fix customer issues, and representing Ambiq to the Zephyr technical steering committee and community with the help of Ambiq engineers and subject matter experts. 

Responsibilities 

• Lead the development, testing, and maintenance of Ambiq’s Zephyr offering, including sample, driver, and software testcase development, as well as hardware enablement.  

• Take a key role in Ambiq Zephyr repository processes and maintenance, including CI/CD. 

• Manage Ambiq Zephyr issue status tracking, debug, and resolution.  

• Collaborate with internal engineering teams to analyze and debug complex system level issues and develop software solutions. 

• Focus on demonstrating Ambiq’s low-power advantages to the greatest extent possible within the Zephyr ecosystem. 

• Create application notes and software guidelines.  

• Support applications and field engineers, and key customers as needed. 

Qualifications 

• MS in ECE or Computer Science and 6+ years of experience or BS ECE/CS with 8+ years of experience, with at least 3 years focusing on the Zephyr ecosystem; 

• Experience with ARM Cortex-M processors.  

• Deep understanding of Zephyr RTOS required. 

• Experience with developing embedded MCU code in C and assembly language on Arm Cortex-M Processors;   

• Experience working with MCU peripherals including SPI, I2C, UART, and USB. 

• Experience with at least one MCU IDE from ARM, Keil, IAR, Eclipse, Ozone or other; 

• Experience with security, Bluetooth, Matter/Thread, and/or machine learning models within the Zephyr ecosystem is a real plus. 

• Good hands-on experience on lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers etc. for debugging issues;  

• Experience with Jira, Confluence and collaboration tools;  

• Experience with source code control systems (git) required;   

• Understanding of software testing and test automation principles;  

• Excellent problem-solving skills dealing with complex system level issues related to HW/SW debug;  

• Experience with scripting languages required and python experience is specifically desirable;  

• Strong communication and documentation skills. 

Responsibilities

• Responsible for scan insertion, boundary scan, MBIST, ATPG for ultra-low power SoC based on subthreshold operation using standard EDA tools.
• Develop and implement low-power DFT architecture and infrastructure.
• Generate structural test vectors, analyse, and improve coverage, test time and test cost.
• Perform pre/post-layout scan and MBIST simulations.
• Work with designers on STA, physical, power and logical issues related to DFT.
• Work with test engineers to bring up test vectors on silicon.

Qualifications 

• BS/MS in ECE/EE and at least 10 years of experience in DFT implementation.
• Skilled in different types of DFT structures, including scan (Stuck-At, At-Speed, Path-Delay), scan compression, boundary scan and MBIST.
• Experience in creating and implementing hierarchical DFT architecture in complex SoC.
• Experience in Low-Power DFT and MBIST.
• Experience in test time and test coverage analysis for scan and MBIST patterns.
• Experience in working with test engineering team to bring up production test program. 
• Extensive knowledge of timing concepts and constraint development.
• Experience in developing scan ATPG and MBIST test benches and simulation in pre/post-layout environments.
• Experience in RTL is required.
• Experience in scripting like Tcl is preferred.
• Experience with GLS (gate level simulation) is preferred.
• Motivated, self-driven engineer with attention to detail.
• Strong verbal and written English communication skills.

Scope  

As the Staff Engineer, System Test at Ambiq, you will drive the development and execution of system-level tests to improve design coverage and measure system performance for ARM Cortex-M4, Cortex-M55, DSP and NPU-based platforms. You will also engage in deep-dive debugging across multiple layers, from high-level system behavior to low-level firmware and driver code and hardware blocks, to ensure optimal integration, reliability, and performance.    

 This role will work closely with global MCU software, validation, and architecture teams, collaborating closely with SoC design engineers, firmware developers, and hardware teams to define and execute comprehensive test and validation plans for MCU-based platforms.    

 The successful candidate will be a proactive, detail-oriented engineer with strong problem-solving skills, comfortable working across hardware and software boundaries. They will thrive in an environment that values technical excellence, effective cross-team collaboration, and continuous learning. 

 The person in this role will define, design and implement test cases for the SDK primarily using C, architected for automation using Ambiq’s automation framework – primarily using Python, validate system functionality and performance, perform in-depth debugging of MCU subsystems including Fabrication, DMA, and peripherals, and provide technical leadership in system test methodology and automation. 

Responsibilities 

• Plan, develop, and execute system-level test strategies for ARM Cortex-M4, Cortex-M55, DSP, and NPU-based platforms. 

• Design and implement firmware test frameworks to validate system functionality, performance, and reliability across multiple integration layers. 

• Develop, maintain, and execute embedded test cases for the SDK using primarily using C and assembly. 

• Develop, maintain, and execute automation using Python or other scripting languages 

• Measure, analyze, and report on system performance metrics, identifying bottlenecks and recommending optimizations. 

• Debug and resolve complex issues spanning from application-level interactions to low-level firmware, drivers, and hardware interfaces. 

• Collaborate with architecture, hardware, and software teams to define test requirements and acceptance criteria. 

• Support pre-silicon validation on FPGA/emulation platforms as well as post-silicon bring-up, validation, and debugging. 

• Contribute to continuous improvement of test methodologies, tools, and workflows. 

• Mentor and guide junior engineers in system testing, embedded development, and automation best practices.  

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.  

• 8+ years of experience in embedded system-level testing, validation, or embedded system development, preferably on ARM Cortex-M architectures. 

• Proficiency in C/C++ and Assembly programming for embedded targets. 

• Strong understanding of MCU architecture, including DMA, memory hierarchy, peripheral interfaces, and interrupt handling. 

• Knowledge of embedded RTOS concepts (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, etc.) preferred. 

• Strong Python programming skills for test automation and data analysis. 

• Experience working at system OEMs and performing system-level debugging is preferred. 

• Familiarity with hardware bring-up, schematic/block diagram reading, and interface validation is highly desirable. 

• Strong debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and other lab equipment. 

• Familiarity with MCU peripherals such as display, audio, and wireless interfaces is a strong plus.

• Excellent problem-solving skills, able to work independently and manage multiple priorities. 

• Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.