Careers at Alpha Data

Senior/Lead Firmware Engineer

Vacancy Code: AD-ENG17

Who We Are

For over three decades, Alpha Data has empowered leading aerospace and defence (A&D) and datacentre acceleration customers with cutting-edge computing solutions. From our locations in the UK and USA, we bring the inherent cost savings and accelerated time-to-market of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products to customers around the world. Our highly skilled design team also specializes in customising these COTS solutions to meet our customer’s unique and challenging requirements, ensuring we succeed together!

The Role

Alpha Data seeks an experienced embedded software/firmware/driver engineer, looking to continue to exercise and develop their technical skills as well as lead and mentor junior staff. You will take an active role in leading design and implementation of kernel drivers, reference designs, SDK for Alpha Data products and customer project engagements.

Our products and customers utilise a large range of operating systems, interfaces, and other technologies; which makes the role both challenging and technically interesting in the breadth of knowledge required.

Principally the role is onsite, with scope for some remote working.

Responsibilities

• Development and maintenance of APIs, SDK and device drivers for Alpha Data’s range of FPGA/SoC products.
• Develop and maintain firmware for FPGAs, microcontrollers, and embedded processors.
• Design, implement, and maintain software components, including device drivers and supporting tools for customer applications.
• Debug, test, and validate software and firmware to ensure reliability and performance.
• Respond to and resolve customer support requests relating to software and firmware issues.
• Collaborate with hardware and systems engineers to ensure effective integration of software and electronic systems.
• Mentor and develope other engineers.
• Innovate and lead high-quality engineering practices.
• Contribute to code quality through documentation, code reviews, and adherence to development standards.
• Support the development of example designs and reference implementations for customers.
• Lead customer technical discussion and interactions.

Requirements

Experience

Minimum of 6 years’ experience in relevant industry roles exercising the skills specified below, and proving capability fulfilling the responsibilities listed above.

Qualifications

• BSc/BEng in Electronics and Software Engineering (or higher).

or

• Apprenticeship degree (SCQF Level 10/11) in related industry with experience using AMD SoC and FPGAs, and software engineering (or higher).
• Any other relevant certification or courses completed in relevant technologies or skills.

Technical Skills

Practical experience of the following range of skills is desirable, and required (as indicated). We appreciate the diversity of this list, beyond the requirements a candidate meets, this list is an indication of areas of technical specialisation that candidate will be able to develop further.

Essential

• AMD/Xilinx FPGAs/SoCs and Vivado Design Suite
• Software/FPGA architecture design leadership
• Understanding and practice in Clock Domain Crossing (CDC)
• VHDL and/or Verilog + Vivado IPI
• C/C++
• Embedded Linux (Yocto) or other Embedded OS application programming
• Experience in device driver programming: In Linux, Embedded Linux (Yocto), Windows, or VxWorks
• Version control (Subversion, Git, etc)

Desirable

• FPGA timing analysis
• Java, JDK/JRE based applications
• Code Review
• Test/Verification Design
• CI/CD, (Jenkins). (automation of build and test)
• Software project management (JIRA)
• Ethernet protocol knowledge (level 1-4)
• PCIe (architecture and processor/FPGA interfacing)
• Experience with other I/O interface protocols, JESDC, Coaxpress, Camera Link, TSN, etc

Soft Skills

• Small team management & leadership
• Project management
• Excellent team communication
• Software development workflow

What We Offer

At Alpha Data, we believe in investing in our people. We offer:

• A competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package.
• Opportunities to work on cutting-edge technologies and challenging projects that make a real impact.
• A collaborative and supportive work environment with a focus on continuous learning and professional growth.
• Exposure to diverse and high-demand markets including high-performance computing, aerospace, and defence.
• The chance to be part of a company with a long-standing reputation for innovation and excellence.

How to Apply

If you are a passionate Engineer looking to make a significant contribution to world-leading technology, we encourage you to apply! Please complete our application form, which can be found here.