Principal Engineer - Applications

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Job Description:

Microchip is seeking a Principal Applications Engineer - Wireless Systems to provide advanced technical leadership, customer engagement, and application development support for embedded wireless controllers and SoC products. This role requires deep expertise in embedded systems, wireless technologies, firmware development, customer-facing technical support, and cross-functional collaboration.

The Principal Engineer will serve as a technical expert supporting global customers, influencing product direction, enabling design-ins and design-wins, and mentoring engineering teams. The role involves solving complex customer design challenges, developing high-quality reference solutions, and creating technical collateral that accelerates customer adoption of Microchip wireless products.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a technical expert for embedded wireless controllers, SoCs, software frameworks, SDKs, and wireless connectivity solutions.
• Provide advanced technical support to global customers, field application engineers, sales teams, and internal engineering teams for wireless embedded applications.
• Develop innovative and scalable solutions to address complex customer design challenges, system-level issues, and product integration problems.
• Lead the design, development, validation, and release of demo applications, reference designs, sample projects, and proof-of-concept solutions showcasing real-world use cases of Microchip wireless products.
• Drive customer design-ins and design-wins by executing reference designs, customer projects, application notes, and technical demonstrations.
• Collaborate closely with internal software, firmware, systems, silicon, validation, product marketing, and applications engineering teams to define, implement, optimize, and debug product features.
• Analyze customer requirements and provide architectural guidance for embedded wireless applications involving Wi-Fi, Bluetooth/BLE, IEEE 802.15.4, and other relevant wireless technologies.
• Validate, test, debug, and release SDKs, software framework packages, and application examples to ensure high quality, reliability, and ease of customer adoption.
• Lead complex system-level debugging efforts involving embedded firmware, wireless protocol stacks, hardware interfaces, RF behavior, RTOS, and application-layer software.
• Create high-quality technical resources such as Application notes, User guides, Training presentations, Instructional videos and Demo documentation
• Develop and deliver technical training for customers, distributors, field engineers, and internal teams.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers on embedded software development, wireless systems, debugging methodologies, customer communication, and applications engineering best practices.
• Provide feedback to product development teams based on customer use cases, competitive analysis, field issues, and market requirements.
• Work effectively in a global, cross-functional, and virtual team environment while independently managing multiple customer and internal priorities.
• Travel as required to visit customers, support technical workshops, assist with on-site debugging, deliver product training, participate in design reviews, and support strategic customer engagements.
• Use AI productivity tools such as Claude, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Copilot, or similar platforms to improve efficiency in technical documentation, presentation creation, customer training material, and application note development.

Leverage AI-assisted development tools where appropriate to support firmware development, code generation, code review, debugging, test creation, and productivity improvement while ensuring compliance with company security, quality, and IP protection guidelines.

Requirements/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Communication Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Typically requires extensive experience in embedded systems, wireless applications, firmware development, customer support, or systems applications engineering.
• Strong hands-on experience in embedded software and firmware development, including bare-metal and framework-based development.
• Expert-level programming experience in C and C++ for embedded systems.
• Strong understanding of embedded software architecture, firmware design, driver development, debugging, and system optimization.
• Deep knowledge of wireless technologies and hands-on experience integrating, validating, and debugging wireless protocol stacks, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth / BLE, IEEE 802.15.4 and Other low-power wireless connectivity technologies
• Strong knowledge of protocol stacks and the OSI networking model, particularly for wireless and embedded networking systems.
• Experience with RTOS and embedded operating environments such as: FreeRTOS, Zephyr, Linux-based embedded systems and Other real-time embedded frameworks
• Experience with 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit microcontrollers and embedded peripherals, including: ADC, DAC, PWM, RTC, WDT, Timers/counters, GPIO, DMA and Interrupt controllers
• Strong knowledge of communication interfaces and peripheral protocols, including: I2C, SPI, UART, CAN and USB
• Strong ability to debug complex system-level embedded issues involving firmware, hardware, wireless connectivity, timing, memory, power, and peripheral interactions.
• Hands-on experience with lab and debugging tools (oscilloscopes, logic/protocol analyzers, RF equipment, debug probes, IDE tools) and good understanding of hardware design concepts such as schematic review, PCB layout, signal integrity, power design, and RF guidelines.
• Familiarity with Microchip microcontrollers, microprocessors, wireless solutions, touch technology, FPGA products, tools, and documentation is an added advantage.
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills.
• Ability to support customers in designing, developing, integrating, validating, and troubleshooting embedded wireless applications, and to deliver practical, creative solutions for resolving design and implementation challenges.
• Collaborates effectively with customers, field teams, and internal engineering teams to resolve issues and meet design requirements. Influences technical direction, drives decisions, and provides leadership without direct authority.
• Strong customer-facing communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills. Self-driven, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple priorities independently. Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills with effective project tracking and reporting.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed to support customers, field teams, technical trainings, workshops, and strategic business opportunities.

Preferred Skills

• Experience supporting global customers in a semiconductor, embedded systems, or wireless connectivity environment.
• Experience developing production-quality firmware, SDK examples, reference applications, and customer-ready demos.
• Experience with wireless certification, interoperability testing, regulatory considerations, or RF validation.
• Experience with secure embedded systems, bootloaders, OTA firmware updates, low-power optimization, and cloud-connected embedded applications.
• Experience using AI-assisted tools such as Claude, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar tools for engineering productivity, documentation, training content, and firmware development support.
• Ability to translate complex technical topics into clear customer-facing documentation, presentations, demonstrations, and training material.

Travel Time:

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