Firmware Engineer, Silicon, Tesla AI

The Silicon Development team is seeking a Firmware Engineer to drive the development of our custom Autopilot Full Self Driving (FSD) SoC. You will join a team of deeply knowledgeable embedded engineers solving ambitious challenges at the intersection of hardware and software. In this role, you will own the full firmware stack - from the very first instruction in ROM and early bootloaders to complex Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) applications. You will engage in tight hardware and software co-design, working intimately with hardware architects to ensure our custom SoCs are functional, performant, and reliable. This is an opportunity to write code that breathes life into new silicon before it even exists physically.

Responsibilities

Write high-performance, safety-critical C code for RTOS and real-time environments Develop and debug firmware in pre-silicon environments (FPGA, emulation) to validate architecture and accelerate hardware bring-up Lead low-level debug efforts for new SoCs and boards, utilizing logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and JTAG debuggers to root-cause complex issues Implement and optimize communication stacks (CAN/CAN-FD, Ethernet) and signal processing logic Maintain and optimize build systems (CMake, SCons) and develop Python-based automation for code generation and testing Design robust firmware that supports high-volume manufacturing, ensuring systems scale reliably to hundreds of thousands of units Contribute to the adoption of modern embedded languages (C++, Rust) and tooling to improve code safety and developer velocity

Requirements

Experience in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or comparable fields Experience in embedded development, such as robotics, real-time controls, system, or controls software Strong proficiency in C (C99/C11) for embedded systems, with a deep understanding of memory management, pointers, and low-level optimization Experience with RTOS concepts (FreeRTOS, ThreadX) including task scheduling, synchronization, and resource management Experience with ARM architecture (Cortex-M/R/A) and understanding of microprocessor fundamentals (interrupts, registers, cache, MMU) Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to cross-functional teams (hardware, validation, manufacturing) Proficiency in C++ and Rust for embedded applications Experience writing drivers for standard interfaces (SPI, I2C, UART, PCIe, DDR) Experience debugging embedded systems using tools such as scopes, logic analyzers and debuggers