Sr. Principal Software Engineer, Debug Tools

About The Role

Ampere is a semiconductor design company focusing on high-performance, energy-efficient AI compute. This role is within the Debug Tools team, which develops debug strategies and solutions for Ampere’s SoCs and partners. Key responsibilities include architecting, designing, developing, and deploying software-based debug tools for custom 64-bit Armv9 SoCs and other processors.

What You’ll Achieve

• Architect, design, develop, and deploy software-based Debug Tools for custom 64-bit Armv9 SoC and other processors.
• Invent new debug tools and techniques for future products and technologies.
• Influence architecture and design team decisions with knowledge of internal and external debug tools on Ampere SoCs.
• Contribute to software architecture and design documents, application notes, and other software product documentation.
• Develop tooling for advanced debugging techniques, such as instruction trace, bus trace, array dump, scan dump, and ATE bootstrapping.
• Develop open source JTAG and self-hosted trace and debugger software for internal and external use in debugging Ampere microprocessors.
• Develop Arm Development Studio, TRACE32, and OpenOCD utilities for internal and external use in debugging Ampere microprocessors.
• Perform pre-silicon bring-up of debug software on software simulators and hardware emulation platforms.
• Collaborate with hardware design, architecture, post-silicon validation, and platform AE teams, as necessary, to resolve critical customer issues.

About You

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Software Engineering or related technical field & 12 years of related experience; or MS degree & 8 years; or PhD & 5 years
• Proficiency with Arm® architecture and ecosystem, including Armv8-a/v9-a and Armv7-m processor architectures, Arm Debug Interface Architecture, Arm CoreSight™ Architecture, Arm AMBA® APB, AXI, AHB, and CHI protocols
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python, and Bash programming
• Experience using Arm Development Studio, TRACE32 PowerView, OpenOCD, and GDB debuggers
• Experience with instruction trace, bus trace, scan dumps, array dumps, and crash capture
• Experience with version control tools such as git, and software best practices
• Strong analytical, debugging, and testing methodology skills
• Proven ability to own problems and drive them to a resolution
• Experience with system software debugging, tracing, and analysis tools, such as perf, ftrace, etc, is recommended

What We’ll Offer

• Competitive total rewards package including base pay, cash long-term incentive, and comprehensive benefits
• Premium medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, income protection, and a 401K retirement plan
• Unlimited Flextime and 10+ paid holidays
• Healthy snacks, energizing espresso, and refreshing drinks
• Inclusive and equal opportunity employer