Lead Embedded Firmware Engineer – Residential Gateways (prplOS & Wireless)Role

Overview

We are looking for a Lead Embedded Firmware Developer with 12+ years of experience to drive the architectural direction, optimization, and scaling of our next-generation Residential Gateway products. Our software architecture leverages prplOS, making our platform inherently SoC-independent across diverse silicon, including Broadcom and MaxLinear SoCs. 

In this role, you will serve as the technical authority for our embedded firmware and wireless stack. You will own the Linux wireless architecture, scaling our platform to support cutting-edge Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, while ensuring carrier-grade stability through deep system-level profiling and optimization using tools like perf and Valgrind. Additionally, you will champion automation by using Python scripting to build robust testing and unit testing framework methodologies that ensure code quality across the entire lifecyle. 

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Architecture: Lead the architectural design of resilient, hardware-agnostic gateway firmware, mentoring engineering teams and establishing embedded development best practices.

• Test Automation & Scripting: Architect and implement automated testing and unit testing frameworks using Python to validate system components, APIs, and overall firmware reliability.

• Performance Profiling & Optimization: Use perf, Valgrind (Memcheck, Massif, Helgrind), and kernel utilities to profile OS memory and CPU management, eliminate memory leaks, resolve race conditions, and minimize CPU bottlenecks.

• Wireless Stack & Driver Integration: Design, configure, and optimize Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 features using hostapd, wpa_supplicant, and iw sub-systems.

• Firmware Development: Architect, develop, and maintain high-performance firmware in C and C++ across various gateway hardware platforms.

• SoC Abstraction: Leverage prpl APIs to maintain hardware-agnostic implementations across multiple carrier-grade SoCs.

• Inter-process Communication (IPC): Develop and maintain scalable services utilizing ubus and/or iMTP to ensure reliable internal bus communication.

• Network Stack Management: Design and troubleshoot robust Layer 2 and Layer 3 network stacks to ensure optimal routing, bridging, and packet forwarding.

• Service Management & Provisioning: Implement and maintain device management and service models, including TR-181 data models and USP (User Services Platform / TR-369).

• Containerization & Lifecycle Management: Configure and manage containerized microservices and virtual execution environments using Docker and prpl LCM (Lifecycle Management).

• Version Control: Manage source code, branching strategies, and firmware release pipelines using Git.

 Must-Have Requirements

• Experience: 10+ years of hands-on embedded firmware development experience in the telecom, networking, or residential gateway industries.

• Languages: High proficiency in C and modern C++ programming within resource-constrained embedded systems.

• Platform Expertise: Strong working knowledge of Embedded Linux development within OpenWrt or prplOS ecosystems.

• Device Management: Deep, production-level expertise with broadband management standards, explicitly TR-181 data models and USP (TR-369).

• Containerization: Demonstrated experience deploying, isolating, and configuring containerized microservices using Docker and lifecycle tools like prpl LCM.

• Advanced Linux Wireless: Deep knowledge of the Linux Wireless stack, including hostapd, wpa_supplicant, iw, and Linux wireless drivers.

• Networking Protocols: Deep understanding of Layer 2/3 networking and core routing/bridging concepts.

• Profiling & Debugging: Hands-on experience with Linux profiling and debugging tools, specifically perf and Valgrind.

• Version Control: Strong expertise managing source code and branching strategies via Git.

Good-to-Have Requirements

• Next-Gen Wi-Fi: Experience implementing, configuring, or debugging next-generation wireless features like Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7.

• Scripting & Automation: Proficiency in Python for creating automated test scripts, hardware validation, or test execution.

• Testing Frameworks: Experience building or maintaining unit testing frameworks (e.g., CUnit, Unity, PyTest) in an embedded context.

• IPC Frameworks: Deep familiarity with OpenWrt ubus and message bus architectures like iMTP.

• Hardware Abstraction: Hands-on experience developing abstraction layers on Broadcom or MaxLinear residential gateway SoCs.

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