Sr SDET– Firmware Automation

Job description

Back to jobs
Sr SDET– Firmware Automation
Boston, MA; Mountain View, CA
Apply
Lightmatter is leading the revolution in AI data center infrastructure, enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. The company invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, capable of connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads.
Lightmatter raised $400 million in its Series D round, reaching a valuation of $4.4 billion. We will continue to accelerate the development of data center photonics and grow every department at Lightmatter!
If you're passionate about tackling complex challenges, making an impact, and being an expert in your craft, join our team of brilliant scientists, engineers, and accomplished industry leaders.
Lightmatter is (re)inventing the future of computing with light!
At Lightmatter, an SDET is a software engineer first , not a QA coordinator or manual tester. You'll design and build the frameworks, harnesses, and hardware-in-the-loop infrastructure that let firmware engineers test their own code continuously on real photonic hardware. You'll sit with the firmware team, spend time at the bench with oscilloscopes, debuggers, and optical instruments, and serve as the bridge between firmware and broader software and systems organizations.
Responsibilities
Own the architecture and roadmap of the firmware test automation framework across products, targets, sites, and teams
Design and build stable automation for new firmware features and hardware, held to production-quality engineering standards
Build and operate HIL test infrastructure: bench and rack fixtures, device farms, power/reset control, instrument integration, and CI orchestration on real photonic hardware
Define test strategy, plans, and reporting; lead test plan reviews across teams
Integrate firmware testing into CI/CD so every change is built, flashed, exercised on hardware, and reported automatically
Own framework reliability and flaky test metrics as first-class engineering problems
Build results, telemetry, and log pipelines for triage, trend analysis, and release decisions
Debug failures across the full stack (firmware, board, instrument, fixture, test code) and partner with engineers to resolve them
Participate in firmware design reviews to influence testability and diagnostics early
Integrate with data center management interfaces (CMIS, OpenBMC, DMTF); debug embedded systems using GDB, JTAG, and logic analyzers
Define diagnostics and monitoring architecture for photonic transceivers
Mentor engineers on test architecture and write clear documentation for non-specialists
Qualifications
8+ years of professional software development, primarily on embedded products, including designing test frameworks and infrastructure
BS or MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent experience
At least one automation framework or HIL system architected and built from scratch, adopted by other engineers, and in daily use and the ability to discuss its design, tradeoffs, and lessons learned
Strong Python: fixture and abstraction layers, hardware drivers, plugin/configuration architectures
Working fluency in embedded C/C++: able to read firmware drivers or state machines and write tests for edge cases
Experience owning CI/CD pipelines running tests on physical hardware (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, or equivalent), including runner health, hardware allocation, and recovery
Track record of delivering robust automation under fast-changing requirements and hardware
Preferred Qualifications
PhD, or MS with 8+ years in embedded test automation or firmware development
Experience testing firmware for optical transceivers, photonic systems, or precision analog/mixed-signal hardware
Familiarity with CMIS, OpenBMC, or DMTF/Redfish
Experience with Pytest ecosystem and test tooling for Zephyr or FreeRTOS (Twister, ztest, Renode, QEMU, or similar)
Experience with optical and electrical test and measurement equipment
Startup experience
Thoughtful use of AI-assisted tools in test generation, triage, or analytics
We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.
Salary Range: total compensation goes beyond base salary, it also includes a new hire equity grant, annual performance-based equity, and other rewards that recognize your impact and contribution.
$178,000 - $225,000 USD
Benefits
Comprehensive Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
Retirement Savings Matching Program
Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
Generous Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
Paid Family Leave
Short Term & Long Term Disability
Training & Development
Commuter Benefits
Flexible, hybrid workplace model
Equity grants (applicable to full-time employees)
Benefits eligibility may vary depending on your employment status and location. Lightmatter recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.
Export Control
Candidates should have capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws.
Create a Job Alert
Interested in building your career at Lightmatter? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.
Create alert
Apply for this job
*
indicates a required field
First Name*
Last Name*
Email*
Phone
Country*
Phone*
Location (City)*
Locate me
Resume/CV*
AttachAttach
Enter manuallyEnter manually
Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf
Cover Letter
AttachAttach
Enter manuallyEnter manually
Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf
Education
School
Select...
Degree*
Select...
Discipline
Select...
Add another
LinkedIn Profile
Website
Lightmatter observes a hybrid work model for positions based in one of our office locations. Will you be able to work from the office at least 3x per week?*
Select...
Lightmatter follows a hybrid work model
If offered employment at Lightmatter, would you be legally eligible to begin work immediately?*
Select...
Do you currently require, or will you require in the future, any immigration-related support, visa transfer or visa sponsorship (e.g., J-1, F-1 CPT, STEM OPT, H-1B, E-3, O-1, TN, visa transfer) to work at Lightmatter?*
Select...
Select the location you can commute or relocate to *
Mountain View, CA
Boston, MA
Toronto, Canada
Remote
U.S. Standard Demographic Questions
We invite applicants to share their demographic background. If you choose to complete this survey, your responses may be used to identify areas of improvement in our hiring process.
How would you describe your gender identity?
Select...
How would you describe your racial/ethnic background?
Select...
How would you describe your sexual orientation?
Select...
Do you identify as transgender?
Select...
Do you have a disability or chronic condition (physical, visual, auditory, cognitive, mental, emotional, or other) that substantially limits one or more of your major life activities, including mobility, communication (seeing, hearing, speaking), and learning?
Select...
Are you a veteran or active member of the United States Armed Forces?
Select...
Voluntary Self-Identification
For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.
Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring
process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a
confidential file.
As set forth in Lightmatter’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,
we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.
Gender
Select...
Are you Hispanic/Latino?
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions
If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.
As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure
the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories
is as follows:
A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.
Veteran Status
Select...
Submit application