Senior Firmware Validation Engineer

Job ID: 200063098Posted: 2026-10-23Location: United States, Washington, RedmondSalary: USD $119,800 - $234,700 per yearEmployment type: Full-TimeWork site: 3 days / week in-officeRole type: Individual ContributorTravel: Less than 25%Profession: Hardware EngineeringDiscipline: Firmware EngineeringCompany: MicrosoftOverviewMicrosoft Silicon and Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) is the team behind Microsoft’s expanding Cloud Infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” mission. SCHIE delivers the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's over 200 online businesses including Bing, MSN, Office 365, Xbox Live, Skype, OneDrive and the Microsoft Azure platform globally with our server and data center infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide and we are looking for passionate engineers to help achieve that mission. As Microsoft's cloud business continues to grow the ability to deploy new offerings and HW infrastructure on time, in high volume with high quality and lowest cost is of paramount importance.The Silicon and Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering Firmware Development team is responsible for design and development of Server and Rack Infrastructure Firmware for Microsoft's online services. We work closely with Microsoft product groups, industry partners and researchers to architect and develop server hardware solutions that meet the requirements for our cloud services platforms at the lowest possible cost of ownership (TCO). We need to be always learning and insatiably curious. We need to be willing to lean into uncertainty, take risks and move quickly when we make mistakes, recognizing failure happens along the way to mastery. And we need to be open to the ideas of others, where the success of others does not diminish our own.Customer obsessedWe will learn about our customers and their businesses with a beginner’s mind and then bring solutions that meet their needs. We will be insatiable in our desire to learn from the outside and bring it into Microsoft, while still innovating to surprise and delight our users.Diverse & InclusiveThe world is diverse. We will better serve everyone on the planet by representing everyone on the planet. We will be open to learning our own biases and changing our behaviors, so we can tap into the collective power of everyone at Microsoft. We don’t just value differences, we seek them out, we invite them in. And as a result, our ideas are better, our products are better, and our customers are better served.One MicrosoftWe are a family of individuals united by a single, shared mission. It’s our ability to work together that makes our dreams believable and ultimately achievable. We will build on the ideas of others and collaborate across boundaries to bring the best of Microsoft to our customers as one. We are proud to be part of team Microsoft.Making a differenceIf we commit to being customer obsessed, becoming more diverse and inclusive, and operating as One Microsoft, we will achieve our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet. Beyond that, we will make a difference and find deep meaning in our work. We stand in awe of what humans dare to achieve and are motivated every day to empower others to do more and achieve more through our technology and innovation. We fundamentally believe that we need a culture founded in a Growth Mindset. It starts with a belief that everyone can grow and develop; that potential is nurtured, not pre-determined; and that anyone can change their mindset.Our teams are responsible for firmware development and validation of server, silicon and rack infrastructure design with a focus on innovation for Azure infrastructure for Microsoft and their customers for MAIA and Cobalt product lines.If you are a Senior Firmware Validation Engineer with passion for building highly reliable, scalable distributed systems; If you want firmware and system debugexperience and like to produce impact across a large number of systems; if you have a penchant to learn and utilize your broad skill set to produce amazing customer impact; then this opportunity is for you - Join the Azure Firmware Center of Excellence and help us envision and build technical solutions to power Azure.We are seeking a Senior Firmware Validation Engineer. You will have the opportunity to work with a team of extremely talented engineers to deliver innovation at scale and own delivery of product to Azure datacenters.#azurehwjobs   #SCHIE   #schiefwcoe ResponsibilitiesOwns coordination, Integration, validation (including validation environment), and debugging of system software comprising of different domains within server architecture (such as SoC FWs, networking, attestation, BMC, Rack Manager etc.).Define and drive networking architectures and validation for AI training and inference platforms, spanning scale-up and scale-out deployments. Partner across architecture, silicon, firmware and software teams to deliver validated networking solutions from pre-si through datacenter deployment.Debugging and troubleshooting skills with aim to become point-of-contact for platform level issues. Ensure systematic closure of issues for subsequent releases.Collaborate with architect, firmware, program management and component dev teams for day-to-days operations as well as for long term roadmap improvements by feeding back key learnings.Passionate about exploring and deploying noble methods to improve test coverage, release/test automation, and efficiency of our FW releases.Create automated dashboards to always reflect “health” and “quality” of system for decision making.QualificationsRequired Qualifications:Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 1+ year(s) technical engineering experience OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience.Other Requirements:Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.This role will requires access to information that is controlled for export under export control regulations, potentially under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations or Export Administration Regulations, the EU Dual Use Regulation, and/or other export control regulations. As a condition of employment, the candidate will be required to provide either proof of their country of citizenship or proof of their US. residency or other protected status (e.g., under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)) for assessment of eligibility to access the export-controlled information. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the candidate’s citizenship will be verified with a valid passport. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may verify status using other documents, where applicable.Preferred Qualifications:BS or MS in Computer Science/Engineering or equivalent industry experience8+ years of professional experience in design/development, integration, validation, or system level debugging in embedded systemsProblem solving, debugging, and troubleshooting skills.Understand and/or have working experience with Ethernet layer1 and layer2, data center networking operation like quality of service, network congestion and flow control, and networking switch knowledge/experience.Demonstrated experience in system level Integration, validation (including validation infrastructure setup), automation framework, and debugging of system software.Experience of creating validation test plans, developing test content to achieve the validation plan, and automating the execution of test contents.Experience of firmware development and testing on multiple HW test environments (Boards, FPGA, Emulation, Simulation etc.).Experience of system level debugging (including customer issues) with understanding of managing and triaging production level issues.Knowledge of hardware debuggers like JTAG, Oscilloscope, and Logic Analyzer etcFirmware Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.