Company Overview
Ambiq is on a mission to enable intelligence everywhere — powering the AI edge revolution with the world's lowest-power semiconductor solutions.
Built on our proprietary sub- and near-threshold technology, our chips deliver multi-fold improvements in energy efficiency without costly process scaling. Since 2010, we've shipped over 290 million units to customers building smarter wearables, medical devices, IoT products, and AI-powered edge applications.
Our cross-functional teams span design, research, development, production, marketing, sales, and operations across Austin, Hsinchu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore. We move fast, tackle hard problems, and create space for people to grow through complex, meaningful work that shapes the future of technology.
We're looking for self-motivated, creative problem-solvers who are eager to push technological limits and make a real impact in energy efficiency.
At Ambiq, we live by five values: Innovate. Collaborate. Focus. Learn. Achieve.
If that's you, join us — the intelligence everywhere revolution starts here.
As the Staff Engineer, System Test at Ambiq, you will drive the development and execution of system-level tests to improve design coverage and measure system performance for ARM Cortex-M4, Cortex-M55, DSP and NPU-based platforms. You will also engage in deep-dive debugging across multiple layers, from high-level system behavior to low-level firmware and driver code and hardware blocks, to ensure optimal integration, reliability, and performance.
This role will work closely with global MCU software, validation, and architecture teams, collaborating closely with SoC design engineers, firmware developers, and hardware teams to define and execute comprehensive test and validation plans for MCU-based platforms.
The successful candidate will be a proactive, detail-oriented engineer with strong problem-solving skills, comfortable working across hardware and software boundaries. They will thrive in an environment that values technical excellence, effective cross-team collaboration, and continuous learning.
The person in this role will define, design and implement test cases for the SDK primarily using C, architected for automation using Ambiq’s automation framework – primarily using Python, validate system functionality and performance, perform in-depth debugging of MCU subsystems including Fabrication, DMA, and peripherals, and provide technical leadership in system test methodology and automation.
Responsibilities- Plan, develop, and execute system-level test strategies for ARM Cortex-M4, Cortex-M55, DSP, and NPU-based platforms.
- Design and implement firmware test frameworks to validate system functionality, performance, and reliability across multiple integration layers.
- Develop, maintain, and execute embedded test cases for the SDK using primarily using C and assembly.
- Develop, maintain, and execute automation using Python or other scripting languages
- Measure, analyze, and report on system performance metrics, identifying bottlenecks and recommending optimizations.
- Debug and resolve complex issues spanning from application-level interactions to low-level firmware, drivers, and hardware interfaces.
- Collaborate with architecture, hardware, and software teams to define test requirements and acceptance criteria.
- Support pre-silicon validation on FPGA/emulation platforms as well as post-silicon bring-up, validation, and debugging.
- Contribute to continuous improvement of test methodologies, tools, and workflows.
- Mentor and guide junior engineers in system testing, embedded development, and automation best practices.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
- 8+ years of experience in embedded system-level testing, validation, or embedded system development, preferably on ARM Cortex-M architectures.
- Proficiency in C/C++ and Assembly programming for embedded targets.
- Strong understanding of MCU architecture, including DMA, memory hierarchy, peripheral interfaces, and interrupt handling.
- Knowledge of embedded RTOS concepts (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, etc.) preferred.
- Strong Python programming skills for test automation and data analysis.
- Experience working at system OEMs and performing system-level debugging is preferred.
- Familiarity with hardware bring-up, schematic/block diagram reading, and interface validation is highly desirable.
- Strong debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and other lab equipment.
- Familiarity with MCU peripherals such as display, audio, and wireless interfaces is a strong plus.
- Excellent problem-solving skills, able to work independently and manage multiple priorities.
- Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
What We Do
Ambiq makes unprecedented energy-efficient SoCs and ultra-low power platform solutions that enable edge AI on billions of battery-powered devices. Our mission is to put intelligence everywhere by delivering the lowest-power semiconductor solutions on the planet. With SPOT® technology and the Apollo SoC family, Ambiq empowers innovators to build smarter, longer-lasting wearables, IoT, smart home, healthcare, and industrial devices. 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. The next generation of AI will not depend on constant cloud connectivity. It will run directly on ultra-low-power silicon in wearables, sensors, and embedded systems. At Ambiq, we design and ship production silicon that enables: Real-time inference on constrained devices Models optimized to run in tens of KB Extreme power efficiency for battery-operated systems Deep hardware/software co-design This is not research. It’s deployed technology.
Why Work With Us
Direct influence on silicon architecture Smaller, high-impact teams Hardware/software co-design in real time Faster technical decision cycles Visible ownership at Staff & Director level Austin-based collaboration culture
