Senior Principal Firmware Engineer

A Day in Your Life at MKS:

As a Senior Principal Firmware Engineer on MKS’s Valves Engineering team, you will play a critical technical leadership role within a highly collaborative, cross-functional environment. You will design and develop embedded firmware that powers advanced throttle valve products used in semiconductor manufacturing and other high-performance vacuum applications.

You Will Make an Impact By:

• Leading the architecture, design, implementation, verification and validation of embedded firmware for complex control systems.
• Collaborating closely with cross-functional team to understand customer requirements and deliver innovative solutions that enhance product performance and customer success.
• Establishing and driving firmware development best practices, including coding standards, design reviews, and automated test frameworks.
• Providing technical leadership, mentorship and guidance to firmware engineers across the organization.
• Driving continuous improvement in firmware quality, reliability, and development efficiency.
  
  

Skills You Bring:

• Education: BS, MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in embedded systems and firmware development, including control algorithms.
• Demonstrated technical leadership with strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Strong proficiency in C and C++ programming for real-time embedded systems.
• Expertise in debugging and system bring-up, using tools such as emulators, oscilloscopes, and communication bus analyzers.
• Experience with version control systems and structured software release processes
  
  

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have):

• Experience with industrial fieldbus protocols such as EtherCAT, DeviceNet, or similar.
• Experience with motion control systems, including stepper motors and BLDC motors.
• Strong understanding of feedback control theory, including PID control and tuning.
• Experience with SPI, I2C, UART and other communication protocols.
  
  

Compensation and Benefits:

Salary Pay Range: $155,250.00 - $258,750.00 USD per year. This range is a good faith estimate of the expected salary range for this position, based on a wide range of factors including qualifications, experience and training, operational and business needs and other considerations permitted by law.  At MKS, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for the role.

Bonus: This position is eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, in an amount to be determined by MKS [or as applicable].

Benefits: MKS offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance coverage (medical, dental and vision), 401(k) with company match, life and disability insurance, 12 paid holidays, sick time, 15 paid vacation days, [6 weeks fully paid] parental leave, adoption assistance and tuition reimbursement [and for participation in any stock programs, signing bonus, etc.].

MKS is an equal opportunity employer, including disability, veteran status and all categories protected by law. Please review our EOE statements for additional details. MKS is generally only hiring candidates who reside in states where we are registered to do business.