Full-Time

Wireless RF PHY Firmware Engineer

Apple

Apple

10,001+ employees

Designs and sells hardware and software

No salary listed

Irvine, CA, USA

In Person

Category
Software Engineering (1)
Required Skills
Python
FPGA
Requirements
  • Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
  • Embedded systems knowledge including: Multi thread environment.
  • Interrupt thread processing/latency.
  • HW/FW semaphores/resource management.
Responsibilities
  • As an Embedded Firmware Engineer, the individual will be a core member of a Wireless System-on-Chip firmware team, with emphasis on PHY bring up, RF calibrations, signal processing algorithm implementation and performance tuning.
  • Work closely with product software and manufacturing teams to provide system-level API and firmware functionality to meet productization needs. Develop SoC test and calibration capabilities for wafer, module, and system factories.
  • Collaborate with RF/Radio design, Design for Test, PHY and System engineering teams to architect, define and implement innovative algorithms, calibrations and protocols.
  • Debug realtime systems with limited visibility, working hands-on with development boards and lab equipment.
  • Support pre-silicon validation efforts, including simulation, emulation, and FPGA prototyping.
  • Support post-silicon bringup, validation, performance characterization, system integration and debug.
  • Collaborate with the systems team to understand algorithm implementations in Python.
  • Implement algorithms on embedded CPUs.
  • Ensure firmware results are aligned with the Python reference implementation.
  • Integrate algorithms into the firmware flow to enable time-critical, online calibration.
  • Debug and resolve issues related to corner cases, part-to-part variations, and other anomalies.
  • Handle error conditions and implement appropriate recovery mechanisms.
Desired Qualifications
  • Strong background in embedded firmware development using C and assembly languages, familiarity with ARM processors and its internals.
  • Good understanding of embedded wireless communication systems, Radio and PHY fundamentals and key RF performance metrics.
  • Familiarity with digital signal processing algorithms.
  • Familiarity with multi core environment.
  • Understanding Python match library like NumPy/SciPy and how to convert it to embedded C.
  • Understanding difference between fixed point and floating points and how to make arithmetic tradeoffs and simplify embedded usage.
  • Experience with low-level hardware interfaces, register and interrupt programming, bare-metal software development, clock and power management.
  • Solid understanding of basic embedded concepts such as RTOS, concurrency, multi-processor systems.
  • Fluency in using lab equipment such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, and power meters.
  • Experience implementing diagnostics, manufacturing tests, and protocol compliance software.
  • Knowledgeable of industry standards for wireless communications such as Bluetooth, WLAN, ZigBee, UWB.
  • Proficient in at least one of the scripting languages such as Python, Perl, or Tcl.
  • Excellent communication skills – both written and oral.

Apple designs, manufactures, and sells hardware and software across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, plus services like the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, and Apple Pay. The products work together through an integrated ecosystem where devices run Apple’s own operating systems and sync data via iCloud, delivering a seamless user experience. It differentiates itself by controlling both hardware and software end-to-end, maintaining a unified design, and expanding services and spatial computing. Its goal is to provide a cohesive, high-quality experience across devices while growing services revenue and expanding its ecosystem.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Cupertino, California

Founded

1976

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • iPhone 18 aggressive pricing absorbs hardware costs via high-margin Services revenue streams.
  • Color.io acquisition strengthens Final Cut Pro moat in professional creator tools market.
  • 14-17% June quarter guidance demonstrates demand resilience amid tariff and geopolitical uncertainty.

What critics are saying

  • John Ternus lacks Tim Cook's supply chain expertise; leadership transition risks operational missteps.
  • Google Gemini dependency leaves Siri vulnerable if partnership breaks or AI superiority shifts.
  • EU antitrust regulators target App Store 30% fees, forcing 10-20% Services revenue cuts.

What makes Apple unique

  • 2.5 billion active devices create unmatched ecosystem scale for Services monetization.
  • 76% Services gross margin with 16% growth provides resilience competitors cannot match.
  • $28 billion Q2 operating cash flow funds $36 billion buybacks without debt increase.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

401(k) Company Match

Tuition Reimbursement

Performance Bonus

Relocation Assistance

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-1%

1 year growth

-2%

2 year growth

-6%
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