Principal Firmware Development Engineer

Microsoft

Confirmed live today High trust

Hybrid

Quick summary

Work type: Hybrid
Location: —
Salary: $142,800–$274,800 / yr
Posted: 3 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live today
Closes: Apr 22, 2027

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Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $206k

This role $209k

$127k $291k

below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays more than 61% of similar roles. Most pay $182,000–$231,000 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $209k versus about $206k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology leader producing software, hardware, and cloud services including Windows, Office 365, Azure cloud platform, Xbox gaming, and Surface devices. Industry: Software & Cloud Computing

Microsoft currently has 694 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $119,800–$234,700 across 651 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Firmware Development Engineer

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JOB TITLE: Principal Firmware Development Engineer The Principal Firmware Development Engineer joins the Azure Firmware Center of Excellence to lead pre-silicon software development for Microsoft custom silicon. This role involves solving complex system-level challenges by establishing scalable architecture and engineering patterns for virtual platforms. You will design and develop SystemC/TLM-2.0 models for SoC subsystems including PCIe, memory, and boot infrastructure while developing low-level firmware and validation software. Key responsibilities include supporting firmware bring-up for UEFI and Windows Boot, debugging interactions across hardware and operating systems, and integrating virtual platforms with emulation systems like ZeBu and Palladium. The role requires expertise in C/C++, SystemC, and TLM-2.0 to drive technical strategy, mentor engineers, and optimize simulation performance for multi-SoC environments to enable large-scale software development and validation capacity.

Skills

SystemC TLM-2.0 C++ Firmware SoC PCIe UEFI Windows Boot Virtual Platforms Emulation FPGA ZeBu HAPS Helium Palladium Protium Synopsys Virtualizer Arm Fast Models Pre-silicon Development Root-cause Analysis

What you'll do

Lead the resolution of complex system-level challenges across virtual platforms, firmware, and silicon architecture.
Define architectural direction for SystemC/TLM-based virtual platforms supporting multiple generations of Azure silicon.
Design and develop SystemC/TLM-2.0 models for complex SoC subsystems like PCIe, memory, and boot infrastructure.
Develop and debug low-level firmware and validation software running on virtual platforms.
Support firmware bring-up activities including UEFI, Windows Boot, and early driver enablement.
Analyze and optimize simulation performance, scalability, and usability across large SoC environments.
Integrate virtual platforms with emulation and prototyping systems to scale pre-silicon software development.
Prototype and de-risk complex solutions before transitioning execution ownership to development teams.

What we're looking for

Must have a Doctorate with 3+ years of experience, a Master's with 6+ years, or a Bachelor's with 8+ years in a related engineering field.
Must be able to meet Microsoft, customer, and government security screening requirements.
Must provide proof of citizenship, US residency, or other protected status to access export-controlled information.
Experience developing complex software systems using C/C++ (preferred).
Experience in firmware, systems software, silicon development, virtual platforms, or pre-silicon development environments (preferred).
Experience with SystemC and TLM-2.0 modeling (preferred).
Experience with Synopsys Virtualizer, Arm Fast Models, Cadence Helium, or similar virtual platform technologies (preferred).
Experience leading technical projects from architecture through delivery (preferred).

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