Principal Systems Software Engineer

Owns complex system modules and fleet automation workflows; defines integration contracts across software, firmware, and hardware. Leads deep-dive investigations for incidents and hard faults; creates durable fixes and preventive controls. Designs performance, reliability, and fault-tolerance improvements for drivers, services, and provisioning pipelines at scale. Elevates code quality via reviews, patterns, and tooling; sets standards for observability, security, and compliance. Guides platform bring-up and diagnostics; collaborates with silicon, board, and firmware partners to validate end-to-end behavior. Designs and implements firmware components integrating diverse interfaces and protocols; diagnoses cross-domain issues (firmware/hardware/OS/ bootloaders) with logic analyzers, JTAG, and emulators; participates in schematic/board reviews; leads initial board/device bring-up; develops and debugs advanced features (e.g., RAS, high-speed I/O, chipset/SoC services) across ARM, AMD, Intel, and custom ASIC/FPGA platforms.

Key Responsibilities
Systems Software Development:

• Design, develop, and maintain complex system software modules for managing, monitoring, and provisioning computer servers, storage, networking, and GPU subsystems in hyperscale environment.

• Utilizes advanced knowledge to design, develop, and deploy software layers and tooling to automate hardware provisioning and onboarding of servers to large-scale fleet.

• Play a significant role in platform bring-up, firmware updates, platform-level diagnostics, and complex cross-layer debugging.

• Diagnose and resolve complex issues across software, firmware, and hardware layers, working in DevOps and incident response paradigms to maintain reliability and availability.

Software Development and Coding:

• Designs software solutions and analyzes and identifies requirements to achieve business and operational goals, sharing results with manager upon completion.

• Adheres to and improves execution of all phases of the software development lifecycle; provides guidance and coaching to engineers to drive improvements.

• Utilizes advanced knowledge to develop and guide new software features and enhancements leading design specifications, ensuring accessibility, and develops documents to clarify software design and code.

• Leads code reviews in multiple areas to help drive improvements.

• Conducts debugging and troubleshooting to identify and fix complex software issues.

• Develops fixes for identified issues.

• Implements comprehensive software testing (e.g., functional and non-functional testing), quality assurance processes, software error logging, monitoring, and observability for effective debugging, sharing work with manager and/or lead upon completion.

• Conducts performance profiling and optimization of coding, building scalable solutions, and anticipating and resolving potential outcomes.

• Troubleshoots and resolves complex issues related to application programming interface (API) functionality and integration. Implements complex API versioning, lifecycle, and interoperability strategies.

Software Architecture - Software System Structural Design:

• Implements and contributes to developing software, systems, and services, ensuring review by manager and/or senior technical leaders upon completion. Recommends project or design scope.

• Provides technical guidance and coaching to less experienced developers in existing software architecture.

• Contributes to periodic reviews and ensures adherence to architectural standards.

• Collaborates with stakeholders and networks externally to ensure work aligns with software architecture.

• Implements complex performance optimization and scalability strategies in software design.

• Occasionally conducts technology research and evaluation for potential architectural changes that may have an impact on results for the team.

Issue/Defect Collaboration - Software Products Support:

• Collaborates with stakeholders to understand customer issues and align solutions.

• May provide advanced technical guidance and support to customers regarding customer-reported issues.

• Advocates for customers' interests and suggests product enhancements based on feedback.

• Provides input to ensure customer satisfaction through timely resolution of issues and effective communication.

• Identifies and implements customer issue and/or defect handling and training processes.

• Investigates and troubleshoots complex and broad reaching/scoped maintenance issues to ensure customer agreement on short- and long-term solutions (e.g., future enhancements).

Practices and Standards Compliance - Security and Compliance:

• Collaborates with the team and externally to follow development practices and coding standards, providing coaching to less experienced team members.

• Participates in peer review processes, provides technical leadership, and ensures code quality and adherence to broad acceptance criteria during development, independently.

• Demonstrates and shares advanced knowledge of industry best practices and applies them to software development processes.

• Implements complex secure coding practices to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Development Operations - System Maintenance:

• Performs periodic maintenance and testing operations for systems that require upgrading or patching (e.g., for critical vulnerabilities), sharing results with manager upon completion.

• Drives improvements, ensures automation, testing, and debugging of systems to ensure service/product availability, health, support, and reliability.

Core Responsibilities
Planning & Execution:

• Manages and coordinates moderately complex tasks, monitoring timelines and deliverables to ensure timely completion and adherence to requirements for a moderately sized project or initiative.

• Efficiently delegates, monitors, and prioritizes work across multiple projects, providing technical oversight and adjusting plans to address shifts in resources or timelines.

Collaboration & Partnership:

• Collaborates across the organization to align on expectations and achieve shared objectives.

• Leverages understanding of business leaders, stakeholders, and/or customers to ensure proposed solutions meet their needs.

• Supports inclusivity by actively seeking and listening to diverse perspectives, ensuring others feel heard and respected.

Problem Solving:

• Identifies and addresses moderately complex issues by analyzing a wide range of data and/or information to identify solutions in accordance with standard practices.

• Proactively escalates unresolved or critical issues with a thorough assessment and suggests potential solutions.

• Reviews, contributes to, and documents problem solving strategies.

Continuous Learning:

• Pursues learning opportunities to expand knowledge and skills and/or tools in new areas and stays abreast of the latest industry trends and best practices.

• Proactively seeks and leverages ongoing feedback and training to improve skills.

• Coaches and mentors junior team members, fostering continuous learning and knowledge sharing within and across teams.

Continuous Improvement:

• Develops ideas, recommends updates, and/or collaborates on the implementation of process improvements to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of processes, protocols, and workflows across teams, and evaluates the impact on key stakeholders.

• Solicits feedback from others on ideas for alternative approaches and methods for continued improvement.

Performance and Development:

• Contributes to the talent development pipeline by participating in candidate interviews, assessing candidates, and providing hiring recommendations.

Career Level - IC4