About the JobPosition Title: Senior Embedded Linux Developer (Audio Platforms)
Location: Ottawa, ON
Department: R&D
Status: Full-time, permanent
Salary Range: $110,000 to $145,000 CAD
We are looking for a
Senior Embedded Linux Developer to engineer, maintain, and optimize the core Linux foundation for our next-generation streaming audio products. You will assume responsibility for the Board Support Package (BSP), the kernel, and the low-level audio pipeline.
This is a highly technical, hands-on role where you will join a strategic project in active development. You will work directly with our System Architects to stabilize and optimize the underlying "plumbing"-from the I2S clocks on the circuit board to the ALSA drivers and PipeWire graph-ensuring our flagship products meet the high standards of our brand. As you drive the current product to launch, you will play a key role in defining the OS strategy and tooling for our future product roadmap.
Key Responsibilities:- Platform Ownership: Maintain, customize, and optimize the Yocto-based Linux distribution for NXP i.MX and similar SoCs. You will manage BitBake recipes, layers, device tree overlays, and secure boot configurations.
- Audio Subsystem Integration: Dive deep into the Linux audio stack. You will configure ALSA System-on-Chip (ASoC) drivers, debug DAI links (I2S/TDM), and ensure userspace routing using PipeWire and WirePlumber is robust and glitch-free.
- Vendor SDK Integration: You will be the expert at merging complex vendor SDKs (e.g., StreamUnlimited, NXP) with our custom codebase. You will handle kernel upgrades, resolve upstream conflicts, and patch drivers to support our specific use cases.
- Hardware Bring-up: Work side-by-side with Electrical Engineers to validate new boards. Use logic analyzers and oscilloscopes to verify clocks, digital interfaces, and driver initialization sequences.
- System Reliability & Performance: Act as the lead debugger for complex system failures. You will use tracing tools such as ftrace, perf, Wireshark, and LTTng to root-cause latency issues, eliminate XRUNs (audio dropouts), and optimize boot time and power consumption.
Experience and Qualifications:- 5+ years of Embedded Linux development experience, with substantial experience in audio or multimedia systems.
- Linux Audio Deep Dive: Expert knowledge of ALSA System-on-Chip (ASoC). You must be comfortable configuring asound.conf, writing or patching machine drivers, debugging DAI links (I2S/TDM), and troubleshooting clock synchronization issues.
- Multimedia Frameworks: Strong experience with GStreamer and/or PipeWire. You understand how to construct and debug complex graphs, manage buffer negotiation, and integrate proprietary plugins such as NXP-optimized components into the pipeline.
- Proprietary Stack Integration: Proven experience integrating binary-only libraries, proprietary codecs, or DSP components into embedded Linux systems. Able to troubleshoot ABI/API compatibility, dynamic linking, dependencies, resource conflicts, and runtime integration issues.
- Experience integrating or maintaining StreamUnlimited StreamSDK or comparable commercial embedded audio streaming platforms.
- BSP & Build Systems: Expert proficiency with the Yocto Project and BitBake. You can write recipes, manage layers, and resolve dependencies for custom images on NXP i.MX platforms.
- System Performance: Ability to root-cause XRUNs (audio dropouts) and latency jitter. You are proficient with tracing tools such as LTTng, ftrace, perf, and Wireshark to analyze system behavior.
- Hardware Interface: Ability to read schematics to understand pin muxing and clock trees.
- Kernel Proficiency: Strong C programming skills for kernel driver development and patching.
Assets:- Familiarity with HDMI subsystems such as V4L2 and EDID parsing.
- Secure Boot implementation experience.
- Python/Bash scripting for test automation.
- Familiarity with hardware debugging tools such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers for interfaces including I2S/TDM, I2C, and SPI.
When Applying:Please include brief responses to the following three questions in your application:
- Hardware Audio Debugging: Describe a time you had to root-cause an audio issue (e.g., XRUNs, pops/clicks, channel swapping, or clock drift) in embedded Linux. What tools (ftrace, logic analyzer, PipeWire graph) did you use, and how did you resolve it?
- Vendor SDK Integration: Describe your experience integrating a third-party audio SDK or vendor kernel drop (e.g., StreamUnlimited, NXP) into a custom Yocto build. What major compatibility or driver issues did you encounter?
- Hardware Bring-up: What is your process for validating a new board's digital audio interface (I2S/TDM) when audio fails to output during initial bring-up?
Candidates who are interested in working in a dynamic environment that supports autonomy, creativity, and excellence are invited to apply in confidence.
