Principal FW/SW Engineer

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com.

Principal Engineer – Embedded Firmware & Software 

Location: Toronto or Ottawa, Ontario (Remote) 
Travel: Occasional travel to Astera Labs’ San Jose headquarters, approximately twice per year, for chip bring-up and project coordination 
Employment: Full-time 

Role Overview 

Join Astera Labs’ Signal Connectivity Engineering team as a Principal Engineer shaping the firmware and software that makes advanced connectivity products adaptive, reliable, and production-ready. You will own embedded software across analog connectivity and Ethernet retimer platforms, from low-level hardware abstraction and calibration through link management, diagnostics, validation, and customer deployment. 

This is a high-impact role at the intersection of embedded systems, mixed-signal hardware, and Ethernet physical-layer behavior. You will work across architecture, lab debug, automation, and customer integration while partnering with silicon, analog, systems, validation, and applications teams. Your work will help deliver purpose-built connectivity for rack-scale AI infrastructure as Astera Labs continues to scale. 

Key Responsibilities 

Firmware Architecture & Product Ownership 

• Own the embedded firmware stack from hardware abstraction and device drivers through management interfaces, diagnostics, and customer-facing APIs.

• Design firmware for adaptive equalization, gain control, calibration, link training, PLL/CDR feedback, thermal management, and device telemetry.

• Architect control algorithms, state machines, and tuning flows that manage analog and high-speed interfaces across process, voltage, and temperature variation.

• Define software quality gates, validation criteria, and release practices from pre-silicon planning through production deployment.

Ethernet, Lab Debug & System Integration 

• Debug firmware behavior across Ethernet configurations, link states, and failure modes by tracing interactions among Layer 1 PHY, SERDES, FEC/PCS, MAC, retimer, and gearbox components.

• Investigate register accesses, embedded SDK behavior, link state machines, PHY telemetry, logs, and real-hardware measurements to identify root causes and deliver targeted fixes.

• Partner with system validation to develop test plans, automate characterization flows, and verify firmware across corner cases and product configurations.

• Support customer bring-up, field issue triage, and deployment readiness in collaboration with applications, platform, and silicon teams.

Technical Leadership & Collaboration 

• Set technical direction, lead architecture and tradeoff discussions, and balance performance, code size, maintainability, and time to market.

• Serve as a technical authority for mixed-signal firmware, analog control behavior, Ethernet physical-layer debug, and hardware/software integration.

• Lead design reviews, implementation, code reviews, and difficult debug efforts across firmware, analog, silicon, systems, validation, and applications teams.

• Mentor engineers and help build the team through recruiting, onboarding, and technical development; people management or a senior technical-lead path may be available as the organization grows.

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

• 8–12 years of experience developing embedded firmware or software for resource-constrained systems, with ownership from architecture through production.

• Strong embedded C/C++ skills and deep knowledge of microcontroller architecture, memory-mapped peripherals, interrupt handling, and bare-metal firmware.

• Hands-on experience with Ethernet or high-speed connectivity devices, including Layer 1 PHYs, SERDES, retimers, gearboxes, NICs, switches, or related systems.

• Solid understanding of physical-layer behavior, link state machines, register-level debug, and hardware/software integration.

• Experience with feedback systems, adaptive algorithms, calibration, or tuning of analog or mixed-signal subsystems.

• Proficiency with Microsoft-based development environments and Linux command-line tools, including GCC or Clang, Make, Bash, GDB, and Git.

• Clear written and verbal communication, systematic debugging skills, and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment with ambiguity.

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

• Python experience for test automation, debug tooling, data analysis, or lab workflows; hands-on experience with Jenkins and CI/CD infrastructure.

• Familiarity with mixed-signal systems and analog signal paths, including ADC/DAC interfaces, sensor readout, transimpedance amplifiers, transmit drivers, CTLE/DFE equalization, CDR/PLL circuits, or thermal control.

• Experience with retimer or gearbox firmware, SDK/API development, optical modules or pluggable optics, high-speed copper connectivity, Ethernet PHY subsystems, FEC, PMA, or signal-integrity analysis.

• Experience using oscilloscopes, BERTs, logic analyzers, and other lab equipment; familiarity with FPGA emulation, pre-silicon validation, RTOS, device drivers, coroutines, mentoring, or recruiting.

Salary range is CAD $184,500 to CAD $205,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits. 

We know that creativity and innovation happen more often when teams include diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences, and we actively encourage everyone with relevant experience to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities.