New

Principal Firmware Architect

Microsoft
$139,900.00 - $274,800.00 / yr
United States, Texas, Austin
Mar 21, 2026
Overview We in SCHIE's Firmware Center of Excellence create the foundational firmware that powers the Microsoft Cloud. Our firmware lights up millions of servers and racks across the globe, enabling users to do everything from running blogs to crunching through powerful AI algorithms. We're a growing team of diverse, talented & passionate engineers inventing and delivering technology to light up the "world's computer!" We are working on the next generation hardware/firmware for server, silicon and rack infrastructure with a focus on innovation in firmware technology to secure Azure infrastructure for Microsoft and their customers. We believe that a robust firmware infrastructure leads to incredibly powerful computing experiences-if you believe this too, we need you! We are looking for a Principal Firmware Engineer to join our team. Responsibilities You will be involved with all phases of product development, from microarchitecture design through firmware architecture and development. At the design phase, you will be part of a team driving the architecture, design and development of the various sub-systems including firmware development of low-level hardware interfaces and define bootand managementflows of ASICandRackinfrastructure. You willbe responsible forfirmware leveldebugas part ofend-to-endfirmware development anddebug. Qualifications Required Qualifications: Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 3+ years technical engineering experience OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience. Other Requirements: Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter. Preferred Qualifications: 12+ years of technical engineering experience ORBachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 10+ years of technical engineering experience ORMaster's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 7+ years of technical engineering experience OR Doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years of technical engineering experience. 10+ years of professional experiencedesigning anddeveloping Embedded Softwaresolutions. Experience withworking from early concept of SoC Architecture and design to shipping final product. Experience driving firmware architecture solutions with detailed troubleshooting and debugging skills. Experience with Peripherals such as PCIe, memory interfaces, OS primitives, memory management, scheduling, interrupts, threading. Experience with Implementation of Hardware/Firmware Security primitives. Experience with Platform initialization, low level drivers for peripherals such as PCIe, I2C, eMMC, SPI, USB, UARTs as well as Memory Management, Scheduling,BMCand rack management Experience with Architecting,Designinganddelivering onnew Data Center class technologies across the entire platform. Firmware Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.