Principal Embedded Software Architect – Edge AI MCU

Principal Embedded Software Architect – Edge AI MCU

Austin, Texas, United States

Ambiq is on a mission to enable intelligence everywhere — powering the AI edge revolution with the world's lowest‑power semiconductor solutions. Built on our proprietary sub‑ and near‑threshold technology, our chips deliver multi‑fold improvements in energy efficiency without costly process scaling. Since 2010, we have shipped over 290 million units to customers building smarter wearables, medical devices, IoT products, and AI‑powered edge applications.

Our cross‑functional teams span design, research, development, production, marketing, sales, and operations across Austin, Hsinchu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore. We move fast, tackle hard problems, and create space for people to grow through complex, meaningful work that shapes the future of technology.

We are looking for self‑motivated, creative problem‑solvers who are eager to push technological limits and make a real impact in energy efficiency. At Ambiq, we live by five values:
Innovate. Collaborate. Focus. Learn. Achieve.

Ambiq designs and ships ultra‑low‑power Edge AI MCUs that enable real‑time intelligence directly on device. We are expanding our Austin engineering organization and hiring a Principal Embedded Software Architect to define the software architecture and requirements for our next‑generation Edge AI MCU platforms. This role sits at the hardware/software boundary — partnering directly with SoC architects, product teams, IP vendors, and embedded software leaders to shape how our silicon is exposed, controlled, optimized, and validated.

You will define how the system behaves.

• Define the software architecture for next‑generation low‑power Edge AI MCUs
• Drive early‑stage functional allocation between hardware and software
• Develop and refine Software Requirements Specifications (SRS) tied to real customer use cases
• Design multi‑processor communication, data movement acceleration, memory management and protection, dynamic resource allocation, power optimization strategies, and debug and visibility tooling
• Partner with SoC architects to influence hardware/software trade‑offs
• Support software prototyping to validate architectural decisions
• Act as an architectural SME through implementation, validation, and bring‑up phases
• Review designs, test plans, and implementation details to ensure alignment with architectural intent
• Mentor engineers and define best practices across embedded teams

• Bare metal and RTOS based systems
• Asymmetric multi‑core systems
• Data movement engines and acceleration blocks
• MMU/MPU, caches, shared memory, dual‑port memory
• FPGA based emulation platforms and full reference systems

• BS or MS in EE, CE, or CS
• 12+ years developing embedded software for real‑time systems
• Deep experience on ARM Cortex‑M platforms
• Strong C/C++ (assembly experience preferred)
• Experience defining and writing Software Requirements Specifications (SRS)
• Strong understanding of functional allocation, requirements traceability, testability across pre‑silicon and post‑silicon platforms
• Experience with asymmetric multicore architectures
• Strong knowledge of memory systems, data movement, and processor interaction
• Ability to independently drive architectural decisions

• Power optimization strategies in embedded systems
• Trust Zone for M‑class microcontrollers
• Trusted firmware environments
• Graphics, display, or audio/video processing
• Experience working with IP vendors and external silicon partners

• Direct architectural influence on Edge AI MCU platforms
• Close collaboration with silicon architects and IP vendors
• Ownership across early‑stage definition through validation
• Opportunity to shape hardware/software trade‑offs that impact power, performance, and scalability
• Austin‑based collaboration culture with tight hardware/software integration
• This is a principal‑level role for engineers who want to define system behavior — not just implement features.

Austin, TX – Onsite, 5 days per week. Must be authorized to work in the United States. We do not sponsor or transfer visas for this role.