Senior Engineer, Systems Engineering - Embedded Systems & PLC Controls

Senior Embedded Software/Firmware Engineer – Embedded Systems & PLC Controls  

Position Summary 

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Software/Firmware Engineer to develop, integrate, and support embedded software, firmware, and PLC-based control systems for industrial and electromechanical products used in semiconductor manufacturing. The ideal candidate will have strong embedded C/C++ development experience along with practical knowledge of real-time control systems, industrial automation, and PLC integration.  

This role will support product development and sustaining engineering from concept through commercialization. The engineer will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, systems, manufacturing, quality, and product teams to translate requirements into reliable designs; develop, test, debug, qualify, and document solutions; support hardware bring-up and system integration; and resolve field and manufacturing issues through structured root-cause analysis.  

The primary focus is embedded firmware and system integration. PLC, HMI, and SCADA experience is important, but the successful candidate is not expected to be an expert in every platform or protocol listed below. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Design, develop, test, and maintain embedded firmware for microcontroller- and processor-based systems using C/C++.  

• Develop low-level drivers, communication stacks, middleware, and application software for embedded products.   

• Implement and optimize real-time control functions, including task scheduling, interrupt handling, state machines, timing, fault handling, and diagnostics.   

• Integrate embedded controllers with PLCs, sensors, actuators, motors, drives, instrumentation, and industrial networks.   

• Implement, integrate, and troubleshoot CAN, RS-232/422/485, UART, SPI, I²C, USB, Ethernet, and TCP/IP communications.   

• Partner with electrical engineers to bring up and validate new hardware platforms using JTAG/SWD debuggers, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and related equipment.  

• Translate product needs into functional and non-functional software requirements, interface specifications, architecture, timing and memory constraints, and verification criteria.  

• Create and maintain technical documentation, including requirements, architecture descriptions, interface documents, process flows, state-machine diagrams, test plans, test reports, release notes, and troubleshooting guides.  

• Develop unit, integration, regression, hardware-in-the-loop, and system-level tests; create tools and scripts that improve automation, repeatability, diagnostic coverage, and data analysis.  

• Participate in architecture, design, and code reviews; apply coding standards, version control, issue tracking, configuration management, and secure development practices.  

• Support stage-gate and New Product Introduction activities from concept and prototype through design verification, validation, qualification, release, and transfer to manufacturing.  

• Support sustaining engineering by troubleshooting software, firmware, hardware-interface, manufacturing, and field issues; perform root-cause analysis and implement corrective actions.  

• Collaborate with domestic and international engineering teams, product management, manufacturing, quality, customers, suppliers, and external development partners.  

• Estimate effort, identify technical and schedule risks, communicate tradeoffs, and take ownership of assigned work through completion.  

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.  

• 5+ years of professional experience developing embedded software or firmware.  

• Strong programming skills in C and C++ for embedded systems.  

• Hands-on experience with RTOS concepts, embedded hardware architecture, interrupts, concurrency, timing, memory, and real-time constraints.  

• Experience developing low-level drivers and integrating peripheral interfaces such as SPI, I²C, UART, CAN, and RS-485.  

• Experience developing or integrating at least one industrial communication protocol or control network.  

• Experience with Git or similar version-control systems, code review, defect tracking, and controlled software release practices.  

• Experience qualifying and validating software against written specifications through unit, integration, and system-level testing.  

• Ability to read schematics and troubleshoot embedded hardware and firmware interfaces using standard laboratory and debug equipment.  

• Ability to create clear requirements, design documents, interface specifications, test plans, test reports, and troubleshooting documentation.  

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.  

• Ability to prioritize work, manage multiple assignments, and deliver in a fast-paced product-development and sustaining environment. 

Nice to Have 

Candidates are not expected to have every item listed below. These capabilities are considered nice to have and may broaden the candidate’s fit based on the products and technologies supported by the team. 

• Experience programming or integrating industrial PLC platforms such as Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Beckhoff, or CODESYS.  

• Experience developing or maintaining HMI and SCADA applications.  

• Familiarity with industrial communication protocols such as CANopen, Modbus, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, or OPC UA.  

• Embedded Linux experience, including Yocto, Buildroot, board-support packages, device drivers, or system services.  

• Develop and maintain PLC software using one or more major platforms such as Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Beckhoff, or CODESYS.   

• Create, integrate, and support HMI and SCADA interfaces for industrial equipment and engineering test systems.   

• Working knowledge of PLC programming or PLC-to-embedded-system integrati 

• Motor-control experience involving stepper, BLDC, or servo drives, encoder feedback, PID tuning, or motion profiles.  

• Digital signal-processing experience, including filtering, sampling, high-resolution ADCs, or sensor signal conditioning.  

• Familiarity with semiconductor-equipment communication standards such as SECS/GEM or HSMS.  

• Experience with Python, C#, automated test frameworks, CI/CD, GitHub Actions, containers, or hardware-in-the-loop testing.  

• FPGA/CPLD development or HDL familiarity.  

• Familiarity with industrial cybersecurity frameworks such as SEMI E187/E188 or IEC 62443.  

• Experience supporting semiconductor equipment or other regulated, high-reliability industrial products.  

• Experience with stage-gate development and New Product Introduction.  

• Master’s degree in a relevant engineering or computer-science discipline.