Software Engineer, Phd, Early Career, Embedded Systems and Firmware, 2026 Start

Google Google · Big Tech · Sunnyvale, CA +3

Google is seeking PhD graduates for Software Engineer roles focused on embedded systems and firmware development. The role involves designing, analyzing, and developing advanced systems, writing code, reviewing code, documenting technical directions, and resolving complex technical issues. While the company is a major player in AI/ML, this specific role is not directly involved in building AI models but rather in general software engineering for systems.

What you'd actually do

  1. Participate in or lead team projects to carry out design, analysis, and development of advanced systems across the stack, particularly embedded systems.
  2. Develop code and review code developed by other developers, and provide feedback to ensure best practices (e.g., style guidelines, accuracy, testability, and efficiency).
  3. Write documents that set new technical directions. Contribute to existing documentation or educational content and adapt content based on product/program updates and user feedback.
  4. Study, diagnose and resolve complex technical issues by analyzing the sources of the issues and the impact on software, hardware, network, or service operations and quality.

Skills

Required

  • PhD degree in Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
  • embedded systems/firmware design
  • C or C++

Nice to have

  • Microcontrollers
  • SoC
  • device drivers
  • hardware
  • power management
  • ARM processors
  • performance optimization
  • file systems
  • bootloading
  • firmware
  • x86 assembly
  • system BIOS
  • hardware/software integration
  • Unix/Linux environments
  • kernel development

What the JD emphasized

  • PhD degree in Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Experience in embedded systems/firmware design.
  • Experience coding in C or C++.