Hardware Principal Engineer
$161.5k - $209k
Senior, Expert
Bachelor's, Master's, PhD
Hopkinton, MA, USA
In Person
Hardware EngineeringHardware Systems Integration
Company Historically Provides H1B Sponsorship
About the job
Requirements
- At least 8 years of related professional experience with a Bachelor's degree, 6 years with a Master's degree, or 3 years with a PhD, or equivalent experience.
- Hands-on experience validating server hardware, including firmware, BIOS, and BMC bring-up, operating-system deployment, and multi-layer system diagnostics is strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of computer architecture, including x86 and ARM; electrical engineering and hardware development, including motherboards, PCIe, and DDR; hardware and firmware diagnostics and troubleshooting; and server hardware configuration, including rack and blade servers.
- Experience developing and executing test strategies and conducting system-level validation and testing across hardware, firmware, BIOS, and operating systems.
- Knowledge of environmental, thermal, and EMC/regulatory validation, including NEBS, ETSI, and MIL-STD.
Responsibilities
- Configure, build, and test new ruggedized server configurations in a hands-on lab to meet emerging telecom and far-edge customer requirements.
- Develop and execute system-level test and validation plans for new server products.
- Deploy and validate firmware, BIOS, BMC, and operating-system stacks across new hardware configurations.
- Translate ambiguous customer issues into actionable validation plans, execute those plans, diagnose root causes, and provide clear solution recommendations.
- Represent telco and service-provider customers in technical requirements discussions with global engineering teams.
- Work with product management, technical marketing, and account teams to identify, confirm, and resolve customer deployment challenges.
- Balance and prioritize concurrent validation workloads across multiple stakeholders and competing program deadlines.
- Apply systems-level expertise across hardware, firmware, BIOS, management controllers, and operating systems to resolve complex integration and validation challenges.
- Use knowledge of real-world edge conditions, including thermal, power, shock, vibration, and space constraints, to diagnose multi-layer problems.
- Direct the application of established engineering principles and guide the development of validation methodologies for ruggedized platforms.
- Independently convert high-level direction or ambiguous customer issues into structured plans with actions, milestones, and success criteria.
- Perform root cause analysis on complex systems failures across hardware, firmware, BIOS, BMC, operating systems, and deployment environments.
- Select methods, adapt techniques, and define evaluation criteria to reach well-supported conclusions.
- Partner hands-on with peers and remotely with engineering teams across distributed global sites to achieve shared outcomes.
- Engage product management, technical marketing, and account teams to advance solutions to customer deployment problems.
- Bring telco and edge customer needs into global product and engineering decisions so deployment conditions inform product design.
- Communicate technical findings, trade-offs, and recommendations to engineering and non-engineering audiences.
Desired Qualifications
- Exposure to ruggedized, telecom, or edge platforms and familiarity with NEBS, ETSI, or MIL-STD environmental and EMC requirements.
- Experience installing, configuring, and troubleshooting operating systems such as Windows and Linux.
About the company
Dell Technologies makes laptops, desktops, servers, data storage and networking equipment for businesses, governments, schools and consumers, and it builds many of the server racks inside large AI data centers. In 2016 it completed its $67 billion purchase of storage maker EMC, then the largest technology deal ever. One division sells PCs, monitors and Alienware gaming computers, while the other sells PowerEdge servers, storage arrays and networking gear to companies running their own data centers. Dell earns money from those hardware sales plus support, financing and subscription services. Michael Dell founded the company in 1984 from his University of Texas dorm room, and it is based in Round Rock, Texas.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Round Rock, Texas
Founded
1984
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- AI demand is surging: Dell booked $60.9 billion in AI server orders in the quarter ending July 2026.
- A $95 billion order backlog gives teams years of work: Dell raised its fiscal 2027 sales forecast to $192 billion.
- Dell pays for staff to keep learning: its benefits profile lists tuition assistance and apprenticeship programs.
What critics are saying
- Jobs keep shrinking: Dell's March 2026 annual report showed headcount down 10% to about 97,000, a third straight yearly cut.
- A few giant buyers drive AI sales: SpaceX and CoreWeave ranked among Dell's largest customers in August 2026.
- PCs earn thin profits: Dell's PC division kept just 7.6 cents of operating profit per sales dollar last quarter.
What makes Dell Technologies unique
- Dell sells both halves of computing: data center gear brought in $31.8 billion last quarter, PCs another $15.0 billion.
- The founder still controls it: Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, holds super-voting shares with over half the director votes.
- Dell sells straight to buyers at scale: its own sales force, not resellers, brings in about half of revenue.
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