Principal Embedded Software Engineer (Image Processing)

Job description
We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company that provides solutions for engineering, technology, and product development projects. For decades, we’ve been helping our clients develop products that are changing the world, whether that’s by shaping the future of space exploration, saving lives with medical devices that set a new standard of care, or creating the fully autonomous electric taxi of tomorrow. Our team of more than 600 people works across industries including aerospace, medical devices and life sciences, unmanned systems and robotics, automotive OEM and tier 1 suppliers, commercial vehicle, electric vehicles, rail, and more. Our offices across the US have different industry focuses and engage with our clients in different ways, ranging from working on-site at client facilities to performing product development at our delivery centers.

ALTEN Group, our parent company, has been a leader in engineering and information technology for more than 30 years. ALTEN Group operates in 30 countries across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East and employs more than 36,000 people, 88% of whom are engineers. The company covers the whole development cycle and offers a choice of service levels, from technology consulting to complete project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you join a group of people passionate about collaborating to solve some of the world’s most technical engineering challenges. Our success is tied to taking care of our employees by building relationships and providing opportunities for mentorship and career growth. We offer comprehensive benefits for all full-time employees, including medical, dental, and vision insurance; a 401(k) plan with employer matching; paid time off (PTO); paid parental leave; and mentorship to help you take your career to the next level. You don’t have to take our word for it that we are a great place to work—we were named on the 2023 Top Workplaces list thanks to feedback from our proud employees.

About The Role

As a Principal Embedded Software Engineer, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and optimizing image processing algorithms for a critical medical device. You will work across the entire software development lifecycle, from requirements gathering and design to implementation, testing, and deployment. This role requires a deep understanding of image processing techniques, hardware/software integration, and experience working within a regulated industry.

Responsibilities
• Design, develop, and optimize embedded vision software using Xilinx Kria SOM
• Develop and integrate with FPGA-based image processing pipelines (ISP) for tasks such as:
• Demosaicing, noise reduction, white balancing, gamma correction, and image enhancement.
• Interface with CMOS image sensors (via MIPI CSI-2 or parallel interfaces) and configure them using I2C/SPI.
• Implement real-time image streaming over USB, Ethernet, or HDMI.
• Perform hardware bring-up of the Kria SOM platform with custom carrier boards connected to camera hardware.
• Work closely with clinical teams to tune imaging for optimal visualization in complex airway structures.
• Ensure compliance with medical device development standards, including software lifecycle (IEC 62304) and risk management (ISO 14971).

Qualifications
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Embedded Systems, or Computer Engineering.
• 5+ years of experience with embedded software development, FPGA programming, and vision systems.
• Proficient in:
• Xilinx Kria SOM
• Open Source ISPs
• Embedded C/C++, VHDL or Verilog
• Strong experience in real-time image acquisition and processing from raw image sensors.
• Hands-on experience with Xilinx ISP cores and integrating AI acceleration on FPGA for vision tasks.
• Understanding of MIPI CSI-2, I2C/SPI protocols, and image data formats (RAW10/12, YUV, RGB).

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience in medical imaging, especially flexible endoscopy or chip-on-tip systems.
• Experience in working with medical-grade video pipelines, including latency optimization and surgeon feedback loops.
• Prior use of Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit or production deployment of Kria SOM in embedded vision systems.
• Familiarity with OpenCV, GStreamer, or V4L2 on embedded Linux.

Location: Hybrid (3 days), on-site (full-time onsite when hardware access is needed)

Salary Range: $175K-$210K

The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience

ALTEN Technology is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our Policy is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual’s age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or veteran status.

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