Wireless RF PHY FW Engineer

Summary

Would you like to join Apple’s growing Wireless Connectivity Silicon team? Our wireless System on a Chip (SoC) organization is responsible for all aspects of wireless silicon development, with a particular emphasis on highly energy‑efficient design and new technologies that transform the user experience at the product level. The team is a world‑class, vertically integrated engineering group spanning RF/Analog architecture and design, Systems/PHY/MAC architecture and design, VLSI/RTL design and integration, Emulation, Design Verification, Test and Validation, and FW/SW engineering.

In this highly visible role, you will be at the center of a silicon design group with a critical impact on getting functional wireless products to hundreds of millions of customers. You will craft and implement embedded firmware for SoC bring‑up and wireless connectivity enablement, working closely with product software and manufacturing teams to enable RF and PHY calibrations, algorithms and testing for productization of the silicon/system.

As an Embedded FW Engineer, the individual will be a core member of a Wireless SoC firmware team, with emphasis on radio and PHY bring‑up, RF calibrations, signal processing algorithm implementation and performance tuning.

• Work closely with product SW and manufacturing teams to provide system‑level API and firmware functionality to meet productization needs; develop SoC test and calibration capabilities for wafer, module, and system factories.
• Collaborate with RF/Radio design, DVT, PHY and System engineering teams to architect, define and implement innovative algorithms, calibrations and protocols.
• Debug real‑time systems with limited visibility, working hands‑on with development boards and lab equipment.
• Support pre‑silicon validation efforts, including simulation, emulation, and FPGA prototyping.
• Support post‑silicon bring‑up, validation, performance characterization, system integration and debugging.

• Strong background in embedded FW development using C and assembly languages, familiarity with ARM CPUs and its internals.
• Good understanding of embedded wireless communication systems, radio and PHY fundamentals and key RF performance metrics; familiarity with digital signal processing algorithms.
• Experience with low‑level hardware interfaces, register and interrupt programming, bare‑metal software development, clock and power management.
• Solid understanding of basic embedded concepts such as RTOS, concurrency, and multi‑processor systems.
• Fluency in using lab equipment such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators and power meters.
• Experience implementing diagnostics, manufacturing tests and protocol compliance software.
• Knowledgeable of industry standards for wireless communications such as Bluetooth, WLAN, Zigbee, or UWB.
• Proficient in at least one scripting language such as Python, Perl, or Tcl.
• Excellent communication skills – both written and oral.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. The base pay range for this role is between $126,800 and $190,900, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. They can receive discretionary restricted stock unit awards, purchase Apple stock at a discount under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and receive other benefits including comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, discounted products and free services, and reimbursement for certain educational expenses.

This role might also be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.