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careers@nuvacore.aiHead of Software Engineering – CPU & Platform Software
Full-time • US I Canada / UK / India or Hybrid • SW + Tech Lead
Nuvacore is building ground-up CPU silicon for next-generation compute workloads. We are seeking an experienced technical leader to head our software engineering organization, responsible for the architecture, development, verification, and delivery of system software enabling next-generation processor platforms. This role leads teams developing embedded firmware, operating system enablement, compiler toolchains, platform telemetry infrastructure, and software verification frameworks that allow operating systems, hypervisors, and applications to fully leverage CPU and platform hardware capabilities. The organization develops foundational software spanning early boot firmware, kernel integrations, system runtime services, developer toolchains, verification infrastructure, and hardware telemetry frameworks supporting performance, power management, reliability, security, and observability across modern compute platforms. You will work at the intersection of CPU architecture, silicon design, firmware, operating systems, compilers, security architecture, verification engineering, and platform hardware, ensuring new processor capabilities are fully enabled and validated across the software stack.
THE ROLE
Technical Leadership
- Drive definition of a software strategy for next-generation CPU platforms.
• Drive development of low-level and system software enabling processor capabilities including platform initialization, power and performance management, DVFS, scheduling optimization, runtime platform services, and system telemetry.
Oversee development of core platform software components including:
- embedded firmware and boot infrastructure
- operating system kernel enablement and drivers
- compiler toolchains and runtime libraries
- platform telemetry and observability infrastructure
- software verification frameworks and validation infrastructure
- Enable first-silicon bring-up and platform validation through firmware and system software development and debugging.
- Oversee complex hardware/software interactions across CPU cores, memory subsystems, accelerators, and I/O platforms.
Platform Software Architecture
- Oversee design scalable platform software frameworks that expose CPU architectural capabilities across firmware, operating systems, and developer environments.
- Ensure seamless integration between firmware, kernel software, toolchains, telemetry infrastructure, and verification frameworks.
- Build interfaces enabling processor capabilities such as performance monitoring, power management, virtualization, and security features.\
- Guide system software design to maximize performance-per-watt, scalability, and workload efficiency across modern compute environments.
Firmware, OS & Toolchain Integration
- Oversee development of embedded firmware responsible for platform initialization, hardware configuration, and runtime platform services.
- Drive operating system enablement including kernel scheduling optimization, memory management, interrupt handling, and device driver integration.
- Lead development and enablement of compiler toolchains and runtime libraries that optimize application performance on CPU platforms.
- Ensure tight collaboration between firmware, OS, compiler, and verification teams to expose architectural capabilities to software and developers.
Software Verification & Validation
- Lead the development of software verification strategies and infrastructure ensuring platform software correctness and robustness.
- Oversee verification frameworks for firmware, operating systems, toolchains, and runtime services.
- Define automated testing, regression infrastructure, and validation methodologies across simulation, emulation, and hardware platforms.
- Ensure early detection and resolution of complex issues across firmware, operating systems, compilers, and hardware subsystems.
Telemetry & Observability
- Define platform telemetry architecture enabling deep architectural visibility into system performance, reliability, security, and workload behavior.
- Oversee development of telemetry pipelines capturing hardware and software runtime data across the platform stack.
- Enable data-driven optimization of system performance, power efficiency, and reliability using telemetry and observability frameworks.
Team Leadership
- Build, lead, and mentor a high-performance platform software engineering organization across firmware, operating systems, toolchains, telemetry, and verification engineering.
- Establish development processes, technical direction, and delivery milestones aligned with silicon development cycles.
- Foster a culture of technical excellence, accountability, and cross-team collaboration.
- Collaborate with global engineering teams across architecture, firmware, operating systems, hardware validation, and platform security.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with CPU architecture, silicon design, design verification, platform hardware, operating system, and security teams to enable new processor features.
- Collaborate with operating system vendors and open-source communities to maintain long-term ecosystem compatibility.
- Drive cross-team alignment ensuring software readiness for silicon bring-up, product qualification, and customer deployment.
WHAT YOU'LL OWN
• Architecture and development of the platform software stack, including embedded firmware, operating system enablement, compiler toolchains, telemetry infrastructure, and software verification frameworks.
• Software readiness and validation for new silicon generations and platform releases.
• Integration of CPU architectural capabilities into firmware, operating systems, and developer environments.
• End-to-end ownership of platform software quality, verification strategies, and system-level debugging across the stack.
• Point-of-contact for platform software roadmaps, system software architecture, CPU/SoC software-hardware interactions, bring-ups, and architectural enablement.
REQUIREMENTS — MUST HAVE
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science with 20+ years of experience in system software, firmware, or platform software development and 10+ years managing large engineering teams.
Deep expertise in
- C/C++ and low-level programming close to the hardware
- CPU architecture (x86, ARM, RISC-V, or similar)
- Embedded firmware and boot initialization flows
- Operating system internals and kernel development
- Hardware/software interaction and system-level debugging
- System-level software verification methodologies and automated testing frameworks
Additional experience
- Hands-on experience across the full lifecycle of platform software development for silicon products, including architecture, prototyping, bring-up, debugging, production deployment, and field support.
- Extensive experience with CPU power management, limits management, and DVFS mechanisms.
- Experience developing software validation and regression frameworks across complex hardware platforms.
- Proven ability to debug cross-layer issues spanning firmware, operating systems, compilers, and hardware platforms.
- Experience building and scaling engineering teams responsible for platform software and verification.
Toolchain & development environment experience
Experience with development environments and tools including:
- Git, GitHub, GitLab
- LLVM, GCC or similar compiler toolchains
- JTAG debuggers and hardware emulators
- Software simulators and instruction-level trace systems
- On-chip telemetry and performance monitoring infrastructure
- Continuous integration and automated testing frameworks
System software expertise
Deep Linux experience including:
- kernel modules
- kernel boot process
- process and thread scheduling
- virtual memory and paging
- interrupts and exception handling
- System calls and synchronization primitives (spinlocks, mutexes, RCU)
Architecture expertise
- Experience with x86, ARM64, or RISC-V ISA and ability to read and analyze compiler-generated and hand-written assembly.
Communication
- Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical designs clearly through written reports, presentations, and verbal briefings to diverse audiences including engineering leadership.
REQUIREMENTS — nice to HAVE
CPU Security & Platform Protection
- Experience with CPU security architecture, including secure boot, root-of-trust mechanisms, trusted execution environments, and firmware security frameworks.
- Familiarity with platform security technologies such as TPM, measured boot, attestation, and confidential computing.
Boot & Firmware Technologies
- Experience with modern boot technologies such as UEFI, ACPI, BIOS replacement frameworks, and firmware update infrastructure.
- Knowledge of platform initialization flows including memory training, device enumeration, and system management firmware.
Platform & Ecosystem Experience
- Experience contributing to or maintaining components in major software ecosystems such as Linux or BSD-based systems.
- Experience with server, client, hyperscale, or high-performance computing platforms.
- Experience collaborating directly with CPU architecture teams to enable new processor capabilities.
Observability & Performance Analysis
Experience with tools and frameworks such as:
- perf
- eBPF
- kernel tracing frameworks
- Platform telemetry and observability systems
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
- Successful bring-up and software readiness for next generation processors
- High-quality firmware, OS enablement, toolchains, and verification frameworks enabling stable operation across modern operating systems and workloads.
- Robust telemetry and observability infrastructure enabling continuous performance, reliability, and security improvements.
- Strong software verification infrastructure ensuring predictable software quality and platform stability.
- A high-performing platform software engineering organization delivering predictable schedules aligned with silicon development milestones.