Firmware Engineer - ML Acceleration, Performance Instrumentation & Developer Tools

Description

AWS Utility Computing (UC) provides product Annapurna Labs (our organization within AWS UC) designs silicon and software that accelerates innovation. Customers choose us to create cloud solutions that solve challenges that were unimaginable a short time ago—even yesterday. Our custom chips, accelerators, and software stacks enable us to take on technical challenges that have never been seen before, and deliver results that help our customers change the world.

We are seeking a Senior Firmware Engineer to join our Power Architecture team, developing firmware algorithms for power and performance management on ML Acceleration Chips. In this role, you will design and implement intelligent control algorithms, optimization strategies, and real-time decision-making systems that maximize performance while managing power and thermal constraints.

You will develop sophisticated firmware that monitors system state, makes dynamic trade-offs between power and performance, and implements adaptive control policies. To enable this work, you will also build instrumentation and tracing capabilities that provide the telemetry needed to develop, tune, and validate your algorithms, with collected data optionally post-processed using cloud-based analytics.

Key job responsibilities
- Design and implement firmware algorithms for power management, thermal control, and performance optimization on ML acceleration hardware
- Develop real-time control policies and state machines that dynamically balance power, thermal, and performance constraints
- Create optimization algorithms for resource allocation, frequency/voltage scaling, and workload scheduling
- Implement efficient data structures and algorithms suitable for embedded, resource-constrained environments
- Design and implement on-device tracing and telemetry collection systems to support algorithm development and validation
- Build developer tools and data pipelines for metric collection, analysis, and visualization of algorithm behavior
- Implement low-overhead instrumentation that minimizes impact on workload performance
- Collaborate with hardware architects to understand hardware capabilities and identify optimal instrumentation points
- Develop automated testing and validation workflows; integrate with optional cloud-based analytics pipelines
- Own firmware code quality through rigorous testing, debugging, and validation on hardware

A day in the life
You will work closely with power architects and hardware teams to understand silicon capabilities, implement low-level control mechanisms, and create the algorithms and tooling that deliver optimal system behavior.

This position is ideal for firmware engineers who enjoy solving algorithmic challenges in resource-constrained environments, working close to hardware, and building systems that intelligently manage complex trade-offs in real-time.

About the team
Our team is dedicated to supporting new members. We have a broad mix of experience levels and tenures, and we’re building an environment that celebrates knowledge-sharing and mentorship. Our senior members enjoy one-on-one mentoring and thorough, but kind, code reviews. We care about your career growth and strive to assign projects that help our team members develop your engineering expertise so you feel empowered to take on more complex tasks in the future.

Diverse Experiences
AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

About AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Inclusive Team Culture
Here at AWS, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon (gender diversity) conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.

Work/Life Balance
We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

Mentorship & Career Growth
We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.

Basic Qualifications

- 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 2+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
- Experience programming with at least one software programming language
- Strong firmware or embedded systems development experience
- Proficiency in C/C++ for systems programming with strong foundation in algorithms and data structures
- Experience implementing efficient algorithms in resource-constrained, real-time environments
- Experience with hardware interfaces, instrumentation, or performance monitoring
- Strong debugging skills with hardware-software systems
- Experience building developer tools or instrumentation frameworks

Preferred Qualifications

- 3+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
- Experience developing control algorithms, optimization algorithms, or state machines in firmware
- Experience with power management algorithms, thermal control policies, or dynamic performance optimization
- Background in tracing frameworks, telemetry systems, or performance analysis
- Understanding of algorithmic complexity and optimization techniques for embedded systems
- Familiarity with hardware performance counters, on-chip monitoring, or hardware debug interfaces
- Experience with data collection pipelines and scripting (Python, shell) for algorithm validation
- Understanding of ML training/inference workloads and their performance characteristics
- Takes strong ownership, works effectively in ambiguous situations, demonstrates a bias for action while consistently delivering impactful results

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.