Senior Systems Software Engineer - Peripherals & Companion Products

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PlayStation also strives to create an inclusive environment that empowers employees and embraces diversity. We welcome and encourage everyone who has a passion and curiosity for innovation, technology, and play to explore our open positions and join our growing global team.

The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.

Senior Systems Software Engineer — Peripherals & Companion Devices

Location: San Mateo, CA (hybrid)

Role type: Full-Time

PlayStation seeks a Senior Systems Software Engineer to develop and improve the core systems software for PlayStation peripherals and companion products. You will be part of a combined systems software and firmware engineering team. Collaboration with firmware engineers—and through them, hardware engineers—will be essential to create smooth, end-to-end device experiences. Your efforts will ensure peripherals function reliably across the PlayStation ecosystem, including PlayStation 5, PlayStation Portal, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. This includes working on solutions that integrate PlayStation Link.

What you’ll do

• Build, implement, and maintain systems software components (drivers, low-level services/daemons, system utilities, and integration layers) that enable PlayStation peripherals and companion products across console, PC, and mobile platforms.


• Work day-to-day with firmware engineers to define interfaces and debug cross-boundary issues. Deliver robust behaviors across pairing, connectivity, updates, and recovery flows. Partner closely with hardware engineering when root cause spans the full stack.


• Build platform integrations that support device discovery, connection management, device management features, and resilient error handling to ensure excellent real-world reliability.


• Develop and maintain diagnostics, logging/telemetry, and test hooks that accelerate root-cause analysis and improve product quality in the lab, manufacturing, and the field.


• Improve performance, latency, reliability, and power consumption for peripherals and companion workflows, with special attention to timing-sensitive device interactions.


• Collaborate with systems QA, operations, program management, and global software teams to ship high-quality releases.


• Produce clear build docs and technical proposals; participate in architecture reviews, code reviews, and release readiness.


• Mentor engineers and help raise the quality bar through pragmatic technical leadership and best-practice engineering habits.

What we’re looking for

• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience with significant time in systems software (drivers, OS-adjacent services, platform integration, performance-sensitive components).


• Strong proficiency in C/C++; experience using Python or similar scripting languages for automation, tooling, and diagnostics.


• Experience releasing software on one or more of: PlayStation/console platforms, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android—and interest in developing solutions that cover multiple platforms.


• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills across complex stacks (multi-threading, memory, timing/latency, device interactions); comfortable with profiling and tracing tools.


• Solid systems fundamentals: concurrency, IPC, resource management, reliability engineering, and quality-focused development practices.


• Strong communication and collaboration skills—able to work effectively across fields and time zones, and to align system-software needs with firmware and hardware constraints.

Nice to have

• Experience with peripherals/connectivity stacks (USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) and/or latency-sensitive pipelines (e.g., audio).


• Experience collaborating with firmware teams on device protocols, state machines, and update orchestration (from the system-software side).


• Familiarity with platform-specific frameworks on Windows and/or mobile (e.g., Windows services/driver ecosystem, Android NDK/HAL-adjacent integration, iOS system frameworks).


• Experience supporting products at scale: manufacturing bring-up, field diagnostics, telemetry/crash analysis, and sustained engineering.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We provide reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities during the application, interview, job performance, and employment benefits. Please contact us to request accommodation.

 

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At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.

Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. 

In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Click  here to learn more.

 

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.

$193,300 - $289,900 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

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Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. 

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.