Keysight Technologies, Inc

R&D Firmware Engineer

Keysight Technologies, Inc • $143K — $238K *
Santa Rosa, CA 95403In-Person
Technical Services
8 - 10 years of experience
1 month ago
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
  • 8+ years of experience in embedded firmware, particularly in RF or precision instrumentation
  • Demonstrated leadership in firmware architecture on delivered products
  • Expert in C; proficient in C++, Python, and automated testing frameworks
  • Familiar with FPGA development and hardware-firmware co-design
  • Hands-on experience with ARM, RISC-V microcontrollers, and low-level driver development
  • Knowledge of embedded Linux and electronic measurement architectures

Responsibilities

  • Architect and implement high-performance embedded firmware systems
  • Develop firmware for bare-metal and RTOS environments using C/C++
  • Design hardware abstraction layers and low-level drivers for various components
  • Collaborate with hardware engineers during system integration and validation
  • Write and maintain automated firmware test suites and execute test plans
  • Lead design reviews and advocate for coding standards within the team
  • Participate in Agile ceremonies and oversee bug resolution processes

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Life and disability insurance
  • 401(k) retirement plan
  • Flexible time off and paid holidays
  • Tuition reimbursement and adoption assistance
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) and perks
Full Job Description
Responsibilities

Firmware Architecture & Development
  • Architect, design, implement, and maintain complex embedded firmware for high-performance test and measurement systems
  • Develop firmware in C and C++ targeting bare-metal and RTOS-based environments on microcontrollers and SoC platforms
  • Design and implement hardware abstraction layers (HAL), board support packages (BSP), and low-level device drivers for FPGAs, ADCs, DACs, RF components, and custom ASICs
  • Develop and optimize FPGA logic and firmware interfaces using VHDL or Verilog where required
  • Implement real-time control algorithms and signal processing routines meeting stringent timing and latency requirements

Hardware Integration & System Bring-Up
  • Partner closely with hardware engineers during PCB bring-up, characterization, and validation phases
  • Develop and execute firmware test plans; write and maintain automated regression test suites
  • Perform hands-on hardware debugging using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, and protocol analyzers (I2C, SPI, UART, PCIe, USB)
  • Define and validate firmware interfaces with DSPs, FPGAs, and host software layers

Technical Leadership & Mentorship
  • Lead firmware architecture discussions and design reviews; provide clear, actionable feedback to peers and junior engineers
  • Contribute to and champion firmware development standards, coding guidelines, and documentation practices across the team
  • Participate in cross-functional program reviews, risk identification, and mitigation planning

Quality, Testing & Lifecycle
  • Write high-quality, maintainable, well-documented firmware code; maintain comprehensive unit and integration test coverage
  • Investigate, root-cause, and resolve complex firmware defects; manage bug resolution from triage through close
  • Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies: sprint planning, stand-ups, backlog refinement, and retrospectives
  • Support product sustaining engineering and field escalation resolution as needed

Qualifications

Education
  • BS or MS degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related technical discipline

Experience
  • 8+ years of embedded firmware experience, including work on high-frequency RF, mixed-signal, or precision analog instrumentation
  • Track record of leading or significantly contributing to firmware architecture decisions on a delivered product

Programming Languages & Tools
  • Expert-level proficiency in C; strong proficiency in C++ for embedded systems and Python
  • Experience with FPGA firmware development and hardware-firmware co-design (Xilinx/AMD, Intel/Altera); familiarity with VHDL or Verilog
  • Experience with CMake, Jenkins CI/CD pipelines, and automated firmware test frameworks
  • Familiarity using AI tools for code generation and review

Hardware & Architectures
  • Hands-on experience with microcontroller and/or SoC architectures (ARM Cortex-M/A, RISC-V, or similar)
  • Strong experience writing and debugging low-level peripheral drivers (I2C, SPI, UART, USB, PCIe, Ethernet)
  • Proficiency with embedded debugging tools: JTAG/SWD debuggers, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes
  • Working knowledge of RF and analog electronics sufficient to collaborate effectively with hardware design engineers

Software & Systems
  • Experience with Linux kernel drivers or Yocto-based embedded Linux BSP development
  • Familiarity with DSP fundamentals - FFT, filtering, calibration algorithms - as applied to measurement firmware
  • Knowledge of electronic test and measurement instrument architecture (VNAs, signal generators); familiarity with instrument control standards: VISA, SCPI

Development Practices
  • Experience with version control (Git) and collaborative development workflows
  • Experience with formal code review processes, static analysis tools, and safety-aware coding practices
  • Familiarity with Atlassian suite: Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket
  • Familiarity using AI Tools for code generation and review

Santa Rosa, CA MIN $143,000 - MAX $238,000.00

No Visa sponsorship is available for this role.

Most offers will be between the minimum and the midpoint of the Salary Range listed above.

Note: For other locations, pay ranges will vary by region

US Employees may be eligible for the following benefits:
  • Medical, dental and vision
  • Health Savings Account
  • Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Life, Accident, Disability insurance
  • Business Travel Accident and Business Travel Health
  • 401(k) Plan
  • Flexible Time Off, Paid Holidays
  • Paid Family Leave
  • Discounts, Perks
  • Tuition Reimbursement
  • Adoption Assistance
  • ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan)

About Keysight Technologies, Inc

Keysight Technologies, Inc. is a leading technology company that helps its engineering, enterprise and service provider customers optimize networks and bring electronic products to market faster and at a lower cost. Keysight's solutions go where the electronic signal goes, from design simulation, to prototype validation, to manufacturing test, to optimization in networks and cloud environments. Customers span the worldwide communications ecosystem, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, semiconductor and general electronics end markets.
Learn more about Keysight Technologies, Inc
Size
14,500 employees
Market Cap
$30.3 billion
Industry
Information Technology
Net Income
$636 million
Founded
1939
5 Year Trend
+11.2%
Revenue
$4.3 billion
NASDAQ
KEYS
* Ladders Estimates

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