Ambiq's mission is to enable intelligence everywhere by delivering the lowest power semiconductor solutions. Ambiq is a pioneer and a leading provider of ultra-low-power semiconductor solutions based on our proprietary and patented sub- and near-threshold technologies. With the increasing power requirements of artificial intelligence (AI) computing, our customers are relying on our solutions to deliver AI to edge environments. Our hardware and software innovations fundamentally deliver a multi-fold improvement in power consumption over traditional semiconductor designs without expensive process geometry scaling. We began in 2010 by addressing the power consumption challenges of battery-powered devices at the edge, where they were most pronounced. As of the beginning of 2025, we've shipped more than 280+ million units worldwide.
Our innovative and fast-moving teams of design, research, development, production, marketing, sales, and operations are spread across several continents, including the US (Austin), Taiwan (Hsinchu), China (Shanghai and Shenzhen), and Singapore. We value relentless technology innovation, a deep commitment to customer success, collaborative problem-solving, and an enthusiastic pursuit of energy efficiency. We embrace candidates who also share these same values. The successful candidate must be self-motivated, creative, and comfortable learning and driving exciting new technologies. We encourage and nurture an environment that fosters growth and opportunities to work on complex, meaningful, and challenging projects, creating a lasting impact and shaping the future of technology. Join us on our quest for enabling billions of intelligent devices. The intelligence everywhere revolution starts here.
As the Staff Embedded Software Engineer, MCU Software at Ambiq, you will drive the development and testing of core MCU functions in AmbiqSuite SDK on Ambiq SoC devices and emulation platforms. These include features like memory management (Cache, MMU, MPU), data movement (DMA), and general MCU management. You will also be contributing to defining and implementing the multicore software framework and related infrastructure.
This role will work within our global MCU software development team, closely with the architecture team and the local MCU SoC design team, focusing on MCU software development and testing.
A successful candidate should be a fast learner, results-driven, and self-motivated team player with an “always learning” mindset. They should have an inquiring spirit and be comfortable in a lab environment and in executing hands-on debugging for embedded systems.
The person in this role will be responsible for extending the hardware adaptation layer (HAL) and device drivers of the SDK to new platforms as well as enhancing its features and content, with a focus on memory management and data movement subsystems. The candidate will be involved in extending the SDK to support new MCU family members as they become available.
Responsibilities- Lead the design, development, and maintenance of the HAL interfaces for Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and Data Movement Engine (DME) subsystems, as well as other general MCU management.
- Design, develop, and maintain examples and software test cases for these blocks.
- Take a key role in the pre-silicon verification on FPGA, as well as post-silicon bring up, verification, performance optimization, and debug, focusing on these blocks.
- Design, develop, and maintain real-time OS ports for Ambiq MCUs.
- Support design verification (DV) and validation engineers, field engineers, and key customers as needed.
- MS in ECE or Computer Science and 6+ years of experience, or BS ECE/CS with 8+ years of experience, with at least 3 years focusing on NPU and DMA, or related subsystems;
- Deep understanding of ARM architectures, M-profile preferred;
- Experience with the low-level usage of ARM Ethos NPU including support of the ARM provided drivers, utilities and toolchains. Performance characterization of the NPU on real-world embedded ML models is a real plus.
- Solid experience with DMA engines, chained and scatter/gather transfers. Hands-on experience profiling and optimizing memory access patterns, DMA throughput, and cache usage;
- Experience with memory protection, isolation, and secure DMA for trusted execution environments is a plus.
- Experience working with multicore embedded processing systems is preferred.
- Deep understanding of embedded RTOS required, Zephyr and FreeRTOS preferred;
- Experience with developing embedded MCU code in C and assembly language on Arm Cortex-M Processors;
- Experience with at least one MCU IDE from ARM, Keil, IAR, Eclipse, Ozone or other;
- Good hands-on experience on lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, etc., for debugging issues;
- Experience with Jira, Confluence, and collaboration tools;
- Experience with source code control systems (git) required;
- Understanding of software testing and test automation principles;
- Excellent problem-solving skills dealing with complex system-level issues related to HW/SW debug;
- Experience with scripting languages is required, and Python experience is specifically desirable.
- Strong communication and documentation skills.
**Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer. We do not sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas (now or in the future) for this role.
We're seeking passionate technologists who thrive on pushing boundaries, solving complex challenges, and driving transformative solutions.
At Ambiq, you'll collaborate with a dynamic team that values relentless innovation, customer-centric thinking, and continuous learning. If you're a self-motivated, creative problem-solver eager to push technological limits and make a meaningful impact in energy efficiency, this is your opportunity to grow, excel, and turn groundbreaking ideas into reality.
Most importantly, the successful candidate will be able to live the Ambiq Shared Values:
- Innovate: We tenaciously find ways to break down the barriers to possible solutions
- Collaborate: We proactively communicate and encourage each other to be better.
- Focus: We keep the voice of the customer at the center of everything we do.
- Learn: We strive for continuous improvement and are always curious.
- Achieve: We execute on quality and follow through on our commitments.
Top Skills
What We Do
Ambiq's mission is to develop the lowest-power semiconductor solutions to enable intelligent devices everywhere by developing the lowest-power semiconductor solutions to drive a more energy-efficient, sustainable, and data-driven world. Ambiq has helped leading manufacturers worldwide develop products that last weeks on a single charge (rather than days) while delivering a maximum feature set in compact industrial designs. Ambiq's goal is to take Artificial Intelligence (AI) where it has never gone before in mobile and portable devices, using Ambiq's advanced ultra-low power system on chip (SoC) solutions. Ambiq has shipped more than 200 million units as of March 2023.
Why Work With Us
At Ambiq, we recognize that our success is built upon the shared values that guide our actions and decisions. Our commitment to these values drives our pursuit of innovative technologies, exceptional products, and a workplace that empowers and inspires its employees.
