Staff Engineer - System Test

This role will be on-site 5 days a week in NW Austin.

Scope

This is an on-site role based in Austin, Texas. As a Staff Engineer, System Test at Ambiq, you will provide technical leadership for system-level test strategy and automation across Ambiq MCU platforms. You will own improvements to the regression framework and help ensure system tests are reliable, repeatable, and effective at finding issues early.

You will work closely with global MCU software, validation, architecture, hardware, and automation teams. The role spans embedded firmware, test infrastructure, lab equipment, and data analysis, supporting both pre-silicon platforms such as FPGA or emulation and post-silicon evaluation boards.

The successful candidate is an experienced engineer who can lead complex test and debug efforts, turn recurring manual work into maintainable automation, and communicate findings clearly. They bring sound engineering judgment, collaborate across hardware and software boundaries, and help other engineers improve test quality and efficiency.

This role will guide the design and maintenance of regression and automation infrastructure, develop system tests and instrument-control workflows, analyze test results, and drive root-cause investigations. They will also mentor engineers and contribute to the team's long-term system test methodology.

Responsibilities

• Define test coverage and execute system-level testing across Ambiq MCU platforms and SDK releases. Architect, develop, and maintain the regression framework and test automation using Python or other scripting languages, including test orchestration, board and target control, result collection, reporting, failure triage, and integration with the team's CI or automation workflows.
• Design, implement, and debug embedded test cases for MCU subsystems and peripherals, using C and assembly where appropriate.
• Automate laboratory instruments and measurement workflows to support repeatable system characterization and regression testing; define reliable setup, control, data capture, and recovery behavior.
• Improve test result storage, traceability, querying, and reporting so engineers can compare runs, identify trends, and investigate failures efficiently.
• Lead complex system-level debug across firmware, drivers, SoC blocks, evaluation boards, and lab setups; document root cause, evidence, and recommended corrective actions.
• Work with software, validation, architecture, and hardware teams to define test requirements, acceptance criteria, and coverage priorities for new features and platforms.
• Support pre-silicon testing on FPGA or emulation platforms and post-silicon bring-up, validation, and regression on evaluation boards.
• Mentor engineers on test design, automation, debugging, and laboratory practices; promote reusable tools and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• At least 6 years of relevant experience with a Master's degree or 8 years with a Bachelor's degree in embedded systems, system testing, validation, or related engineering work.
• Strong Python programming experience for test automation and C or C++ for embedded software and test development.
• Demonstrated experience developing or maintaining automated regression systems, including test execution, result handling, failure analysis, and ongoing framework improvement.
• Hands-on experience automating laboratory instruments or measurement equipment. Familiarity with instrument-control interfaces and protocols such as SCPI, VISA, or PyVISA is desirable.
• Strong understanding of MCU architecture and embedded systems, including interrupts, DMA, memory, power or clock control, and peripheral interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART, or USB.
• Experience debugging embedded systems in a laboratory using equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, or debug probes.
• Experience with an RTOS such as FreeRTOS or Zephyr, source control such as Git, and issue tracking and collaboration tools.
• Ability to lead technical investigations, manage multiple priorities, mentor engineers, and communicate clearly with global cross-functional teams.
• Experience with relational databases or SQL, test-data schemas, or data-analysis and reporting pipelines is a plus.
• Experience with pre-silicon validation, FPGA or emulation platforms, silicon bring-up, or MCU SDK testing is a plus.
• Experience with using AI tools such as Cursor or OpenAI’s Codex to develop test code or debug issues is a plus.

Must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer. We do not sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas (now or in the future) for this role.