Director, Software Engineering

Description

Synaptics is leading the charge in AI at the Edge, bringing AI closer to end users and transforming how we engage with intelligent connected devices, whether at home, at work, or on the move. As the go-to partner for the world’s most forward-thinking product innovators, Synaptics powers the future with its cutting-edge Synaptics Astra™ AI-Native embedded compute, Veros™ wireless connectivity, and multimodal sensing solutions. We’re making the digital experience smarter, faster, more intuitive, secure, and seamless. From touch, display, and biometrics to AI-driven wireless connectivity, video, vision, audio, speech, and security processing, Synaptics is the force behind the next generation of technology enhancing how we live, work, and play.

Overview

Synaptics is looking for a Director, Software Engineering, Edge Compute & Connectivity Division to join our dynamic and growing organization. This role leads SW engineers in the US and globally, driving customer success and productization for our ASTRA native AI processor family across Linux, Android, and RTOS environments. You will prioritize customer needs, ensure technical excellence, and deliver scalable, production-ready solutions. This position reports to the Sr. Director, ECCD.

The typical base pay range for this position is USD $182,000 - $287,100 per year. Individual pay is determined by many factors including work location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. This position is also eligible for a discretionary annual performance bonus, equity, and other benefits. Note that compensation listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits.

Responsibilities & Competencies

Job Duties

• Lead, mentor and develop a team of engineers fostering a strong culture of ownership and accountability on the ASTRA platform enablement, security development, and customer support across Linux, Android, and RTOS environments
• Oversee R&D activities, including feature development, integration, and debugging within the ASTRA BSP, Android, and RTOS software stacks
• Collaborate with Marketing, PM, and Engineering teams to shape product roadmap, translate customer and market requirements into executable engineering plans, and deliver high-impact features
• Serve as a technical escalation point for key customer issues, driving root-cause analysis, resolution, and long-term fixes across software and system layers
• Balance new feature development with customer support obligations, ensuring high-quality delivery without compromising responsiveness to customers
• Guide engineers in the design and delivery of reference implementations, sample applications, and platform enhancements that accelerate customer adoption of ASTRA processors
• Engage directly with customers and OEM partners to support platform bring-up, system integration, and deployment, with a strong focus on BSP, Android, and RTOS use cases
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Hardware, Software, QA, and Front-line Support teams to ensure software readiness, system stability, and performance targets are met
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering execution, including development processes, issue tracking, documentation, and knowledge sharing
  
  

Competencies

• Strong understanding of embedded systems, BSP development, operating systems (Linux/Android/RTOS), and SoC-based platforms; able to guide complex technical decisions while remaining hands-on when needed
• Effectively leads and motivates a small-to-mid-sized engineering team, sets clear priorities, delegates appropriately, and ensures commitments are met
• Understands customer pain points and business drivers; able to balance internal roadmap goals with external customer success
• Comfortable switching between strategic planning, feature development, debugging customer issues, and day-to-day execution
• Able to solve problems and drive root-cause resolution for issue that are not clearly defined and require in depth understanding of technology and organizational objectives; unafraid to ask questions and explore new ideas
• Ability to build strong working relationships with Product, Architecture, Engineering, and QA teams to align execution with broader company objectives
• Communicates complex technical topics clearly to engineers, product teams, and customers; able to influence without authority
• Demonstrates urgency, reliability, and integrity; follows through on commitments and drives issues to closure
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment, open to learning new technologies, and proactive in identifying improvement opportunities
  
  

Qualifications (Requirements)

• Bachelor’s (or Master’s) degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field or equivalent
• 12 years in embedded systems and applications engineering with 4 years in technical leadership or management roles
• Working knowledge of Yocto, Android, and/or embedded Linux stacks
• Strong expertise in SoCs, firmware, drivers, embedded Linux, and RTOS
• Familiarity with AI at the edge, basic understanding of camera/vision/audio pipelines and interacting with language models
• Experience supporting customers from prototype through production
• Proven ability to build, mentor, and lead engineering teams
• Track record of success in customer-facing roles, especially with Tier 1 OEMs
• Effective in fast-paced, cross-functional environments with global scope
• Experience with ASTRA AI processor family or embedded SoCs (e.g., NXP, Ambarella, RPi)
• Hands-on with edge ML frameworks like TensorFlow Lite, ONNX, or custom ML deployments
• Domestic and international travel up to 15% required
  
  

Belief in Diversity

Synaptics is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to workforce diversity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, age, religion, protected veteran or disability status, or genetic information.