Wireless RF PHY Firmware Engineer

Apple Inc

Confirmed live yesterday High trust

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
San Diego, CA
Salary
$175,000–$308,500 / yr
Posted
3 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live yesterday

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $205k
This role $242k
$133k most similar roles pay here $327k

This role pays more than 83% of similar roles. Most pay $168,500–$241,750 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $242k versus about $205k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Apple Inc

Apple Inc. is a multinational technology company known for designing and manufacturing consumer electronics, software, and online services, including the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and App Store. Industry: Consumer Electronics & Software

Apple Inc currently has 2321 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $175,000–$277,600 across 1891 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Wireless RF PHY Firmware Engineer

The Wireless RF PHY Firmware Engineer joins the Wireless Connectivity Silicon team to develop embedded firmware for SoC bring up and wireless connectivity enablement. This role focuses on PHY bring up, RF calibrations, signal processing algorithm implementation, and performance tuning. You will collaborate with product software and manufacturing teams to provide system-level API functionality, while working with RF and System engineering teams to architect innovative algorithms and protocols. Day-to-day tasks include implementing algorithms on embedded CPUs, debugging real-time systems using lab equipment like oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers, and supporting pre-silicon validation via simulation and FPGA prototyping. Required skills include C, assembly, Python, and experience with ARM CPUs. You will address technical challenges in wireless communication systems, including Bluetooth, WLAN, ZigBee, and UWB, while managing multi-core environments, interrupt processing, and low-level hardware interfaces to ensure robust productization of the silicon.

What you'll do

  • Implement embedded firmware for SoC bring-up and wireless connectivity enablement.
  • Develop RF calibrations, signal processing algorithms, and performance tuning for production.
  • Create system-level APIs and test capabilities for wafer, module, and system factories.
  • Translate Python reference implementations into optimized C code for embedded CPUs.
  • Integrate time-critical, online calibration routines into the firmware flow.
  • Debug real-time systems using development boards and lab equipment like oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.
  • Support pre-silicon validation through simulation, emulation, and FPGA prototyping.
  • Resolve issues related to corner cases, part-to-part variations, and error recovery mechanisms.

What we're looking for

  • Bachelor of Science degree and 10+ years of relevant industry experience.
  • Knowledge of multi-thread, multi-core environments, interrupt processing, and hardware/firmware resource management.
  • Experience in embedded firmware development using C and assembly languages with familiarity with ARM CPUs (preferred).
  • Understanding of wireless communication systems, Radio and PHY fundamentals, and key RF performance metrics (preferred).
  • Familiarity with digital signal processing algorithms and converting Python libraries like NumPy or SciPy to embedded C (preferred).
  • Experience with low-level hardware interfaces, register/interrupt programming, bare-metal development, and power management (preferred).
  • Proficiency in scripting languages such as Python, Perl, or Tcl (preferred).
  • Fluency in using lab equipment including logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and spectrum analyzers (preferred).

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