Principal Firmware Design Engineer

PRINCIPAL ELECTRICAL ENGINEER (HARDWARE DESIGN) Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating manufacturing as a single integrated system, we unlock a new era of innovation where complex hardware is designed, built, and scaled without limits. As a Principal Electrical Engineer at Freeform, you will play an integral role in the design and development of custom electronics and compute systems that bring our AI-native metal 3D printing factory systems to life. You will solve challenging problems in fields such as high-performance compute, high speed communications, embedded hardware, motion control, autonomous robotic systems, and much more. You will use a first principles approach to solving problems and tackling new areas within electrical engineering that you may not have directly worked on before. The ideal candidate is capable of running projects from cradle to grave, acting as a technical lead, and has the ability to work effectively with other engineering disciplines. 3D printing experience is not required to be successful here - rather we look for smart, motivated, collaborative engineers who love solving hard problems and creating amazing technology! Responsibilities:  * Rapidly design, develop and test highly reliable electronics and compute systems that enable complex autonomous systems to perform reliability, repeatedly, and scalable  * Serve as the senior engineer on the team, driving technical direction, electrical architecture, product requirements, component selection, analysis, schematic capture, prototyping, bring-up, debugging, documentation, productization, manufacturing, and testing * Challenge assumptions and learn new design approaches * Drive component selection, analysis, schematic capture, prototyping, bring-up, debugging, documentation, manufacturing, and test * Hands-on debugging of the unexpected via the use of laboratory test equipment, custom instrumentation, and testing setups * Model and simulate circuit designs for analysis and performance * Act as a technical lead, driving schedule and ensuring a continuous rate of innovation Basic Qualifications:  * Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or similar engineering discipline * 15+ years of professional experience designing and delivering complex electrical hardware * Broad electrical engineering background; well versed in electrical engineering fundamentals and comfortable taking a first-principles approach to solving problems * Experience operating as a technical lead and system owner, responsible for architectural decisions, execution quality, and technical accountability across the full lifecycle Nice to Have:  * Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in electrical engineering * Experience with heterogeneous compute environments, including FPGA, GPU, and mixed architecture systems, with the ability to make thoughtful tradeoffs across performance, latency, and system complexity. * Experience with sensors, high speed cameras/imaging systems, and similar physical telemetry systems * Experience with embedded microcontroller design and firmware * Experience with high-speed data acquisition systems, high-accuracy motion systems, high-speed scanning systems, optomechanical assemblies, and complex electromechanical systems * Familiarity with industrial automation technologies and robotics Location:  * Based in Hawthorne, our vertically integrated facility brings technology development, R&D, and production together under one roof. We operate at the center of LA’s deep tech ecosystem, surrounded by some of the most ambitious hardware innovation happening anywhere in the country. * Our fast-paced, cross-functional environment is built on close collaboration, and as such, this role requires full-time onsite presence (five days a week), with very limited exceptions. What We Offer:  * We have an inclusive and diverse culture that values collaboration, learning, and making deliberate data-driven decisions.  * We offer a unique opportunity to be an early and integral member of a rapidly growing company that is scaling a world-changing technology.  * Benefits   * Significant stock option packages  * 100% employer-paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance (premium PPO and HMO options)  * Life insurance  * Traditional and Roth 401(k)  * Relocation assistance provided  * Paid vacation, sick leave, and company holidays  * Generous Paid Parental Leave and extended transition back to work for the birthing parent  * Free daily catered lunch and dinner, and fully stocked kitchenette  * Casual dress, flexible work hours, and regular catered team building events  * Compensation     * Our intent is to offer a salary that is commensurate for the company’s current stage of development and allows the employee to grow and develop within a role.  * In addition to the significant stock option package, the estimated salary range for this role is $160,000-$300,000. The upper end of the range is reserved for individuals who demonstrate exceptional experience, deep domain mastery, and a proven history of high performance and impact.  * Freeform is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values diversity; employment with Freeform is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

About us  Graphcore is one of the world’s leading innovators in Artificial Intelligence compute. It is developing hardware, software and systems infrastructure that will unlock the next generation of AI breakthroughs and power the widespread adoption of AI solutions across every industry.  As part of the SoftBank Group, Graphcore is a member of an elite family of companies responsible for some of the world’s most transformative technologies. Together, they share a bold vision: to enable Artificial Super Intelligence and ensure its benefits are accessible to everyone.  Graphcore’s teams are drawn from diverse backgrounds and bring a broad range of skills and perspectives. A melting pot of AI research specialists, silicon designers, software engineers and systems architects, Graphcore enjoys a culture of continuous learning and constant innovation.  Job Summary  We are seeking an experienced Principal Hardware Diagnostics Engineer to design and develop diagnostics software used to monitor hardware health and diagnose system-level issues across Graphcore’s AI infrastructure platforms.  This role focuses on building diagnostics agents, tools, and analytics frameworks that enable engineers and automation systems to identify, isolate, and resolve hardware issues across blade-level servers and rack-scale clusters.  The Team  Graphcore is a globally recognised leader in Artificial Intelligence computing systems. The company designs advanced semiconductors and data centre hardware that provide the specialised processing power needed to drive AI innovation, while delivering the efficiency required to support its broader adoption.       The Systems Engineering and Platform Validation team ensures Graphcore’s AI compute platforms are reliable, diagnosable, and operationally robust at scale.  The team collaborates with hardware engineering, firmware, cloud infrastructure, and automation teams to develop tools and frameworks that monitor system health, detect hardware failures, and accelerate root-cause analysis across AI clusters.  Responsibilities and Duties  * Design and develop automated hardware diagnostics solutions for blade-level servers and rack-scale AI systems.  * Architect and implement diagnostic agents, monitoring tools, and analytics frameworks to track hardware telemetry.  * Collaborate with hardware teams to integrate low-level diagnostic modules into monitoring systems.  * Develop diagnostics tools capable of detecting hardware health conditions and isolating failures.  * Create diagnostic modules used for internal validation and production data center operations.  * Provide detailed hardware fault information to system engineers to accelerate troubleshooting.  * Define remediation workflows and insights for hardware fault scenarios across nodes and clusters.  * Collaborate with firmware, networking, and cloud platform teams to integrate diagnostics across the system stack.  Candidate Profile  Essential  * Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related discipline.  * Strong software engineering experience in Python, C++, or C#.  * Experience developing diagnostics or monitoring systems for hardware platforms.  * Experience working with distributed systems or cloud infrastructure.  * Strong knowledge of Linux environments and system-level diagnostics tools.  * Experience collaborating with CM/ODM partners on manufacturing diagnostics and fault isolation.  * Strong analytical and debugging skills.  * Excellent communication and collaboration abilities.  Desirable  * Experience working with AI hardware platforms or accelerator-based computing systems.  * Familiarity with hyperscale data center infrastructure.  * Experience building cluster-level monitoring or diagnostics systems.  * Experience interacting with internal or external customers during diagnostics solution development.  In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers flexible working and a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing and financial future. Our benefits include medical, dental and vision coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), disability and life insurance, a 401(k) retirement plan, commuter benefits, wellness services and an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). We welcome people of different backgrounds and experiences; we're committed to building an inclusive work environment that makes Graphcore a great home for everyone. We offer an equal opportunity process and understand that there are visible and invisible differences in all of us. We can provide a flexible approach to interview and encourage you to chat to us if you require any reasonable adjustments.