Consultant - Principal Firmware Engineer

Our Client, a Leading Global Specialist in Energy Management and Automation, is looking for a Principal Firmware Engineer with 10+ years of experience for a contractual project . The selected candidate will lead end-to-end firmware architecture and hands-on implementation for power electronics applications, including inverters, converters, and motor control systems. The role requires deep expertise in embedded C on ARM Cortex-M platforms, RTOS (FreeRTOS, ThreadX), and embedded Linux, along with strong knowledge of STM32/TI MCU families, peripheral driver development, and secure boot implementation for industrial-grade embedded products.

Key Responsibilities:

Architecture & System Design

• Analyse product, system, and control requirements; architect firmware solutions meeting performance, safety, and security needs.
• Define module-level architecture for device drivers, middleware, communication interfaces, bootloaders, and application layers.
• Lead design and code reviews and provide technical direction to resolve complex engineering challenges.
• Work closely with hardware, systems engineering and validation teams to understand the requirements and ensure smooth deliver of product.

Firmware Development

• Develop and integrate low-level drivers (ADC, PWM, I2C, SPI, UART, RS485, CAN, Ethernet, QSPI/OSPI).
• Implement secure boot, firmware update managers, and cryptographic security features.
• Build real-time applications using RTOS (ThreadX, FreeRTOS, µC/OS) including kernel configuration and porting.
• Perform board bring-up, BSP creation, hardware abstraction, and hardware–software integration.
• Develop control algorithms and sampling frameworks for power electronics (inverters, converters, motor control, or related systems).

Testing, Debugging & Quality

• Develop and maintain unit tests for firmware modules.
• Use lab measurement and debugging tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multi-meters, and protocol analyzers for validation.
• Ensure compliance with SDLC, coding guidelines, architecture documents, and security best practices.
• Drive root-cause analysis for system-level issues and support cross-functional debugging.

Project Execution & Team Collaboration

• Participate in sprint planning, task breakdown, and Scrum activities.
• Provide technical clarity, resolve impediments, and enable efficient team execution.
• Proactively identify risks in architecture or implementation and define mitigation strategies for long-term product sustainability.
• Drive migration plans for platform upgrades or technology transitions.

Note:

Duration - 6 Months

Location - Bangalore (On-Site)

Capacity - Full-Time

Skills Required

Core Embedded Expertise

• Strong proficiency in Embedded C for 32-bit MCU/DSP architectures (ARM Cortex-M33/M23/M4/M7 preferred).
• Deep understanding of microcontroller subsystems, clocking, power modes, interrupt handling, timers, DMA, and memory architectures.
• Hands-on expertise with STM32/TI or similar MCU families.

Peripheral Drivers & Connectivity

• Strong experience developing and debugging drivers for:
• ADC, PWM, UART, SPI, I2C, RS485, CAN
• EEPROM, QSPI/OSPI Flash
• Ethernet: TCP, UDP, IPv6
• Experience with hardware bring-up, BSP, and peripheral tuning.

RTOS & Embedded Linux (Mandatory)

• Expertise in ThreadX, FreeRTOS, μC/OS or similar kernels.
• Experience in RTOS kernel porting, configuration, task scheduling, and memory management.
• Mandatory: Strong hands-on experience with Embedded Linux, including:
• Device drivers
• Boot-time configuration (U-Boot, Secure Boot, etc.)
• Networking stacks
• Yocto or Buildroot-based system builds (preferred)

Security & Bootloaders

• Proven experience developing secure boot, bootloaders, and FOTA/SOTA/UART/CAN/Ethernet-based firmware update mechanisms.
• Good understanding of cryptographic algorithms (AES, SHA, RSA/ECC), authentication, and secure firmware delivery.

Power Electronics & Control Firmware

• Experience working with control firmware for:
• Motor drives
• DC/DC or AC/DC converters
• Inverters or energy systems
• Good understanding of control loops (PID, PI), high-frequency sampling, and real-time signal processing.

Tools, Processes & Additional Skills

• Proficiency with GitHub, JIRA, Confluence.
• Python scripting for automation, testing, or tool development.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (preferred).
• Excellent documentation and communication skills.
• Experience with end-to-end SDLC for embedded product development.