Job Description

Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer Contractor

Thermal Control System Development

Company: Cohu, Inc.

Location: San Diego, CA
Duration: 3 Month Contract (potential extension)
Work Arrangement: This is a full-time contractor position on-site role (minimum of 32 hours per week) at Cohu’s semiconductor test handler & thermal systems innovation center located in San Diego, CA (Rancho Bernardo).

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Embedded Firmware Engineer Contractor to develop firmware for a high-performance multichannel thermal control system based on an STM32H7 microcontroller. The controller performs fast simultaneous temperature acquisition, executes multiple independent PID control loops, and communicates system data through a 100 Mbps Ethernet interface.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineer who is equally comfortable developing embedded firmware and troubleshooting hardware in the laboratory.

Responsibilities

• Develop bare-metal firmware for an STM32H7-based thermal control platform.
• Implement simultaneous temperature acquisition from I2C and RTDs
• Develop, implement, and tune multiple independent PID-based control loops.
• Support hardware bring-up, integration, and validation activities.
• Debug peripherals and interfaces like ADCs, I2C, PWM, Ethernet, and GPIOs.
• Work closely with hardware engineers to diagnose and resolve board-level and system-level issues.
• Participate in system testing, performance characterization, and firmware optimization.

Required Qualifications

• BS degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering or closely related field and 7+ years of embedded firmware development experience OR MS degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or closely related field and 4+ years of embedded firmware development experience.

• Experience developing and tuning temperature control systems, power control systems, or other real-time feedback control applications.

• Strong C programming skills.
• Extensive experience with development on STM32H7 devices.
• Experience implementing PID or other closed-loop control algorithms.
• Experience with hardware bring-up, prototype validation, and schematic review.
• Proficiency using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and digital multimeters to troubleshoot firmware and hardware integration issues.

Expected Deliverables

During the contract period, the contractor is expected to deliver:

• Successful bring-up and validation of the STM32H7-based hardware platform.
• A reliable, production-ready thermal control firmware architecture supporting multiple independent control channels and meeting measurement accuracy specifications.
• Ethernet communication infrastructure supporting at least 50 Mbps data throughput.
• Well-structured, maintainable, and thoroughly commented source code suitable for long-term product support and future development.
• Firmware designed for robustness, reliability, fault detection, and recovery in a production environment.
• Technical documentation sufficient to support future maintenance, testing, and product release activities.

Compensation: The estimated base pay range for this position is $75 -$85 per hour, depending on qualifications, experience, education, and other job-related factors. This range represents Cohu’s good faith estimate of what it reasonably expects to pay for this contractor position.