Senior Staff Engineer

Job Description

100% onsite - Columbia, MD

We are seeking a highly skilled and hands-on Senior Staff Engineer to lead development efforts in AI, MLOps, and signal processing, with a strong emphasis on deploying intelligent systems on microcontrollers and working directly with customer data.  This role demands not only proficiency in machine learning frameworks but also a deep understanding of the underlying algorithms and their practical application to real-world sensor data.  The ideal candidate will also bring extensive experience in software production development, including CI/CD pipelines, GitHub workflows, and rigorous testing practices.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architect, develop, and maintain scalable ML product codebases with production-grade quality.
• Lead MLOps strategy including model deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management.
• Apply advanced signal processing techniques to one-dimensional sensor data (e.g., audio, motor control, accelerometers).
• Collaborate with customers to ingest, debug, and analyze their data for model development and validation.
• Design and implement machine learning models tailored to time-series and sensor data, with a strong grasp of algorithmic foundations (e.g., SVM, decision trees, neural networks, reinforcement learning).
• Optimize and deploy ML models on microcontrollers (MCUs) and embedded platofrms.
• Develop smaller, faster models suitable for edge deployment.
• Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines, GitHub workflows, and automated testing frameworks.
• Write and maintain unit tests, integration tests, and documentation to ensure code quality and reliability.
• Assemble hardware setups (e.g., sensor arrays, embedded boards) and collect data from real-world environments to support model development and validation.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical leadership across teams.
• Stay current with emerging technologies in AI, embedded ML, and signal processing.

Qualifications

• Education: Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• Experience: Minimum 5 years in software development with a focus on AI/ML and signal processing.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, and at least one other language (e.g., C, C )
• Deep understanding of ML algorithms, reinforcement learning and practical experience implementing them from scratch or customizing existing frameworks.
• Experience with ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, LIBSVM).
• Strong background in digital signal processing (DSP) for audio and time-series data.
• Hands-on experience with sensor data (e.g., accelerometers, motor control systems).
• Experience working with customer datasets, including debugging and preprocessing.
• Proven ability to optimize performance and size.
• Extensive experience with CI/CD pipelines, GitHub version control, and automated testing.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong understanding of software engineering best practices and agile development.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with edge computing or embedded systems.
• Knowledge of reall-time systems and latency optimization.
• Contributions to open-source projects or published research in AI/signal processing.

Additional Information

The expected annual pay range for this position is $134,500 - 185,000. This position is also eligible for   bonus opportunities and commission pay.  Please note that the final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience, and skillset of the candidate. 

Renesas offers a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, and pet insurance. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive company-paid life insurance and AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as paid sick time, paid holidays, and accrued paid vacation. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources 

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’ As the industry’s leading expert in embedded processing with unmatched quality and system-level know-how, we have evolved to provide scalable and comprehensive semiconductor solutions for automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT industries based on the broadest product portfolio, including High Performance Computing, Embedded Processing, Analog & Connectivity, and Power.
 
With a diverse team of over 22,000 professionals in more than 30 countries, we continue to expand our boundaries to offer enhanced user experiences through digitalization and usher into a new era of innovation. We design and develop sustainable, power-efficient solutions today that help people and communities thrive tomorrow, ‘To Make Our Lives Easier.’     
 
At Renesas, you can: 

• Launch and advance your career in technical and business roles across four Product Groups and various corporate functions. You will have the opportunities to explore our hardware and software capabilities and try new things.  

• Make a real impact by developing innovative products and solutions to meet our global customers' evolving needs and help make people’s lives easier, safe and secure. 

• Maximize your performance and wellbeing in our flexible and inclusive work environment. Our people-first culture and global support system, including the remote work option and Employee Resource Groups, will help you excel from the first day.    

Are you ready to own your success and make your mark?  

Join Renesas. Shape Your Future with Us.  

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, committed to celebrating diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law. For more information, please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.

Renesas Electronics deals with dual-use technology that is subject to U.S. export controls regulations. Under these regulations it may be necessary for Renesas to obtain U.S. government export license prior to release of technology to certain persons. The decision whether or not to file or pursue an export license application is at the sole discretion of Renesas.

We have adopted a hybrid model that gives employees the ability to work remotely two days a week while ensuring that we come together as a team in the office the rest of the time. The designated in-office days are Tuesday through Thursday for innovation, collaboration and continuous learning.