Principal Firmware/Diagnostics Engineer - ARM/x86 Platforms

Job Description :

F5 is seeking an accomplished Principal Firmware/Diagnostics Engineer to lead the development of reliable, secure, and serviceable firmware and diagnostics across the full product lifecycle, from hardware bring - up and boot loaders through runtime services and field upgrades.

As a key member of the Hardware Development Team, you will provide technical leadership and mentoring, drive roadmap execution and elevate engineering excellence, and partner cross - functionally to deliver platform capabilities that delight customers and meet stringent security and compliance expectations (e.g., secure boot, code signing, measured boot).

This role requires deep expertise in firmware/software design and the ability to influence architecture decisions, ensure design excellence, and foster innovation.

Key Responsibilities :

- Uphold F5's Business Code of Ethics and promptly report violations of the Code or other company policies.

- Act as a technical authority, establishing standards for secure boot, code - signing, anti - rollback protections, measured boot, vulnerability remediation, and incident response.

- Lead firmware and diagnostics design for new products, including architecture definition, functional specifications, and requirements development.

- Work with cross - functional teams to align requirements and shepherd PRDs into executable plans.

- Assist in the planning of work across boot, board bring - up, drivers, runtime services, manufacturing/test firmware, and in - field update mechanisms.

- Define telemetry, detection, and recovery strategies for firmware integrity, and align to relevant standards (e.g., FIPS 140 - 3, FedRAMP implications as applicable).

- Define automated build, test, and validation, ensuring repeatable releases and traceable artifacts across SKUs.

- Drive design for manufacturability, testability, and reliability across all phases of development.

- Partner with MFG and Global Services to define factory programming, golden images, and resilient upgrade strategies (A/B, recovery partitions).

- Research and evaluate emerging technologies to enhance existing products and guide new product directions.

- Oversee and mentor engineers, providing technical guidance and reviewing work to ensure quality and efficiency.

- Serve and guide other team members through challenges, assuring their growth and project success.

- Conduct internal and external technical presentations and disseminate knowledge within the Hardware Development Team.

- Develop and maintain schedules for deliverables, ensuring timely and high - quality documentation and testing through holistic ownership over assigned product areas and projects.

- Provide status, risks, and decisions to leadership; translate technical details into business outcomes.

- Interface with suppliers and manufacturing partners for validation and issue resolution.

- Support sustaining engineering for legacy products and assist in manufacturing training for new designs.

- Participate in design reviews and contribute to continuous improvement of design processes and standards.

Qualifications :

1. Required :

- Understand and comply with F5 internal processes and requirements.

- BS in Computer Science or equivalent required; MS in Computer Science is desirable.

- 10+ years of experience in embedded/firmware engineering.

- Advanced troubleshooting skills at board and system levels.

Extensive experience in the following :

1. Arm/x86 platforms, embedded Linux, secure elements, and measured boot pipelines.

2. C/C++, low - level debugging, and board bring - up (oscilloscope/logic analyzer/JTAG).

3. AMI Aptio V UEFI BIOS, OpenBMC, AMI MegaRAC/SPX, IPMI and Redfish.

4. Boot architecture (UEFI/BIOS, bootloaders), BMC, PFR, TPM, SPI/QSPI flash, IO peripherals, and runtime firmware.

5. Buses/protocols (I2C/I3C, SPI, UART, DDR, PCIe, GPIO, PMIC), and memory/storage (NOR/NAND, DRAM, SSD).

6. Security protocols and knowledge of multiple Platform Root of Trust devices and secure boot mechanisms.

7. Source code version control tools such as Git and GitLab.

8. CI/CD and Agile software development.

9. Prior work with factory programming, golden image workflows, and recovery strategies (A/B, rollback protections).

10. Exposure to cloud - connected devices and policy/version orchestration across fleets.

11. Familiarity with relevant industry standards and compliance requirements.

12. Excellent communication and cross - functional collaboration skills.