Intern, Platform Firmware/ Software Engineer

Term: May through August, 2026

Department: Engineering

Please Note

• Position location is on-site in San Jose Office
• There is no immigration or relocation support for this position
• Posting expires upon application threshold
  
  

Job Summary

Ayar Labs is revolutionizing the world of optical interconnect technology with our cutting-edge electro-photonic chips! We are seeking an exceptional Intern Firmware Engineer to help drive firmware design from inception to customer deployment, ensuring seamless hardware validation and integration.

This is a unique opportunity to expand your knowledge in embedded systems, multi-chip package environments, and high-speed SerDes to shape the future of optical interconnect.

Essential Functions

• Help design a general test and control platform: Initialize and control the platform's hardware (like the CPU, memory and I/O devices)
• Load the operating system, making the platform ready for use.
• Collaborate closely with platform firmware, embedded firmware, system hardware and AISC engineers to develop sophisticated software platform solutions and meet the test requirements for our digital and photonic multi-chip and laser systems.
  
  

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Electrical/Computer Engineering or a related field with 1 years of experience.
• Proven expertise in bare-metal platform firmware development, with strong programming skills in C, C and python.
• Hands-on, proactive approach with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic startup environment.
• Experience with various microcontrollers (e.g., STM, Microchip) and firmware debugging tools.
• Experience with communication protocols (e.g., I2C, SPI, USB, UART).
• Proficiency with modern version control workflows (e.g., Git).
• Familiarity with project management tools (JIRA), and CI/CD tools.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in platform firmware development for laser applications.
• Experience in firmware development for high-speed electronics and photonics applications.
• Experience in scripting with high level language like Python.
• Ability to own architecture and development of software modules from scratch.
  
  

Pay Range: $44.00 to $55.00 / Hour

Recruiters

Principal applicants only. We are not accepting resumes from recruiters for this position. Remuneration for recruiting activities is only applicable subject to a signed and executed agreement between the parties. Please don’t send candidates to Ayar Labs, and do not contact our managers.

About Ayar Labs

At Ayar Labs we’re about to revolutionize computing by moving data with light. We’re unleashing processing power for artificial intelligence, high performance computing, cloud and telecommunications by removing the bottlenecks created by today’s electrical I/O -- making it possible to continue scaling computing system performance. Ayar Labs is the first to deliver an optical I/O solution that combines in-package optical I/O chiplets and multi-wavelength remote light sources to replace traditional electrical I/O. This silicon photonics-based I/O solution enables chips to communicate with each other from millimeters to kilometers, to deliver orders of magnitude improvements in latency, bandwidth density, and power consumption.

With our strong collaborations with industry leaders and government, our deep ties to MIT and UC Berkeley, and our commitment to hiring the best engineers in photonics and electronics, joining our team gives you the opportunity to collaborate with renowned experts on challenging, paradigm-shifting work.

We are passionate about delivering in-package optical I/O at scale, leveraging the strength of our patent portfolio and our team of leading interdisciplinary experts. We believe that deep cross-collaboration between teams facilitated by honest, open debate is the best way to drive innovation and achieve big wins. Join our team and experience the possibilities.

Ayar Labs is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and is strongly committed to all policies which will afford equal opportunity employment to all qualified persons without regard to age, sex, national origin, race, color, ethnicity, creed, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. It is the policy of Ayar Labs to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. Veterans are more than welcome and encouraged to apply.