Date posted 08/17/2026
Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.
We are looking for a Staff Engineer to join our SerDes PHY IP firmware team and work alongside fellow engineers on PCS/PMA firmware for our next-generation SerDes PHY IP, supporting multiple protocols such as PCIe, Ethernet, and MIPI M-PHY. This is a senior individual-contributor role focused on hands-on firmware design and development, silicon bring-up, and customer issue resolution as a core member of the team.
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Develop firmware for next-generation SerDes PHY IP supporting multiple protocols, including PCIe, Ethernet, and MIPI M-PHY.
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Design and maintain firmware for PHY startup, offset calibration, and adaptation flows.
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Analyze and debug interactions between firmware, analog/mixed-signal front-end circuits, and digital PCS/PMA blocks.
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Collaborate closely with systems, analog design, digital design, verification, and lab teams during firmware development and debugging.
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Support and enhance existing firmware applications and features.
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Develop and maintain firmware development infrastructure and tools.
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Develop and improve firmware documentation to enhance customer usability and support.
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Investigate and resolve customer-reported firmware issues and failures.
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Lead firmware integration, debugging, and silicon bring-up activities on assigned areas.
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Contribute to improvements in firmware design methodologies and system-level architecture through collaboration with cross-functional teams.
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Advance the development of high-performance firmware for next-generation technologies.
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Enhance the functionality and reliability of Synopsys' SerDes PHY IP products.
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Optimize system performance through post-silicon bring-up, characterization, and debugging activities.
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Improve customer satisfaction through robust firmware solutions and comprehensive documentation.
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Drive innovation in firmware design methodologies and system-level architecture.
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Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver integrated solutions that push the boundaries of technology.
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Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience.
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8+ years of experience in a related field.
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Understanding of both digital logic and firmware/software development, with in-depth specialization in either.
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Hands-on experience with assembly-level firmware development for embedded controllers or custom PHY sequencer ISAs.
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Working knowledge of high-speed SerDes fundamentals and familiarity with at least one high-speed SerDes standard (e.g., PCIe, Ethernet, MIPI M-PHY, USB, or DisplayPort).
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Experience with structured firmware development, verification, and documentation processes.
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Familiarity with embedded software toolchains, including cross-compilers, assemblers, and on-target debuggers.
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Ability to read and debug Verilog RTL (e.g., PHY FSM/sequencer RTL) to reason about firmware–hardware interactions.
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Business-level English communication skills, both written and verbal, to work effectively with global cross-functional teams and customers.
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Deep expertise in PCIe, Ethernet, or MIPI M-PHY protocol layers.
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Experience with multi-protocol SerDes PHY architectures.
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RTL design or verification experience.
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Scripting experience with Perl, Python, Bash, or Csh.
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Silicon bring-up and lab debugging experience, including waveform tools (e.g., Verdi/FSDB), scopes, or BER testers.
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Experience developing DSP microcode or firmware for other custom-ISA processors beyond PHY sequencers.
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Experience with Perforce or Git-based version control workflows.
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Experience using AI-assisted development tools for code review, documentation, or test generation.
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