# Principal FW/SW Engineer at Astera

> Canada · Principal · Software engineering · open. Source: https://alderhq.app/jobs/greenhouse%3Aasteralabs%3A4739524005 (read 2026-11-06).

## Facts (observed)

- Company: [Astera](https://alderhq.app/companies/astera)
- Location text: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto
- Where it can be done from (inferred): Canada (evidence: "Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto")
- Posted: 2026-10-05 (32 days ago)
- First seen by alder: 2026-11-02 · last verified: 2026-11-04
- Reposted: 0 times · edited: 0 times
- Apply on the employer's site: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/asteralabs/jobs/4739524005

## Pay and sponsorship

- Posted pay: not posted
- Market band for similar posted roles (Toronto, n 7): p25 CAD 156k, median CAD 188k, p75 CAD 207k
- H-1B filings at this company for similar roles, FY26: 1 ([US DOL OFLC LCA disclosure data](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance))

## Description (the employer's text)

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com.

Principal Engineer – Embedded Firmware & Software

Location: Toronto or Ottawa, Ontario (Remote)

Travel: Occasional travel to Astera Labs’ San Jose headquarters, approximately twice per year, for chip bring-up and project coordination

Employment: Full-time

Role Overview

Join Astera Labs’ Signal Connectivity Engineering team as a Principal Engineer shaping the firmware and software that makes advanced connectivity products adaptive, reliable, and production-ready. You will own embedded software across analog connectivity and Ethernet retimer platforms, from low-level hardware abstraction and calibration through link management, diagnostics, validation, and customer deployment.

This is a high-impact role at the intersection of embedded systems, mixed-signal hardware, and Ethernet physical-layer behavior. You will work across architecture, lab debug, automation, and customer integration while partnering with silicon, analog, systems, validation, and applications teams. Your work will help deliver purpose-built connectivity for rack-scale AI infrastructure as Astera Labs continues to scale.

Key Responsibilities

Firmware Architecture & Product Ownership

- Own the embedded firmware stack from hardware abstraction and device drivers through management interfaces, diagnostics, and customer-facing APIs.
- Design firmware for adaptive equalization, gain control, calibration, link training, PLL/CDR feedback, thermal management, and device telemetry.
- Architect control algorithms, state machines, and tuning flows that manage analog and high-speed interfaces across process, voltage, and temperature variation.
- Define software quality gates, validation criteria, and release practices from pre-silicon planning through production deployment.
Ethernet, Lab Debug & System Integration

- Debug firmware behavior across Ethernet configurations, link states, and failure modes by tracing interactions among Layer 1 PHY, SERDES, FEC/PCS, MAC, retimer, and gearbox components.
- Investigate register accesses, embedded SDK behavior, link state machines, PHY telemetry, logs, and real-hardware measurements to identify root causes and deliver targeted fixes.
- Partner with system validation to develop test plans, automate characterization flows, and verify firmware across corner cases and product configurations.
- Support customer bring-up, field issue triage, and deployment readiness in collaboration with applications, platform, and silicon teams.
Technical Leadership & Collaboration

- Set technical direction, lead architecture and tradeoff discussions, and balance performance, code size, maintainability, and time to market.
- Serve as a technical authority for mixed-signal firmware, analog control behavior, Ethernet physical-layer debug, and hardware/software integration.
- Lead design reviews, implementation, code reviews, and difficult debug efforts across firmware, analog, silicon, systems, validation, and applications teams.
- Mentor engineers and help build the team through recruiting, onboarding, and technical development; people management or a senior technical-lead path may be available as the organization grows.
Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

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Data: alder (https://alderhq.app). Cite https://alderhq.app/jobs/greenhouse%3Aasteralabs%3A4739524005 and the date you read it. Observed facts come from the employer's own listing; location reach, level, family and skills are inferences.