Firmware Quality Assurance Engineer

Actalent Services is a global engineering firm with 35 years experience in the embedded systems, mechanical, manufacturing and electrical engineering spaces. With over 3000 dedicated employees across the US and India, Actalent offers comprehensive and innovative solutions, specializing in energy and utilities, automotive, transportation, medical devices, consumer/industrial products and material handling.

Job Description:

We are seeking a skilled Quality Assurance Engineer for a long-term consulting on the Project Test Team at a customer site in Kennesaw, GA. This role is crucial for ensuring that firmware and peripherals used in the development Intelligent Building solutions meet the highest quality standards.

The ideal candidate will have experience using Linux platform for testing and be capable of creating structured test plans to exercise and validate firmware and driver performance.

This position will come with comprehensive benefits including PTO and Holidays. A hybrid work schedule is possible

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute detailed test plans and test cases for firmware, peripherals, and low-level Linux drivers.

• Conduct system, performance, and regression testing to validate firmware functionality and ensure products meet quality standards.

• Identify, document, and track firmware defects and inconsistencies, collaborating with development teams to resolve issues.

• Exercise and validate low-level Linux systems, focusing on the interaction between drivers and hardware components.

• Ensure comprehensive coverage of all critical firmware and peripheral features, while adhering to project deadlines.

• Maintain and enhance automated test frameworks where applicable, ensuring efficient and repeatable test execution.

• Work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure the timely release of high-quality products.

• Monitor and report on testing progress, providing insights and suggestions for continuous improvement.

• Assist in improving testing throughput and efficiency to meet the increasing demands of product releases.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

• Proven experience in firmware testing, including creating structured test plans and cases.

• Strong understanding of Linux systems and commands, with the ability to exercise and validate drivers and hardware interactions.

• Familiarity with automated testing frameworks and tools.

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Strong attention to detail and a commitment to maintaining high-quality standards.

• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with embedded systems and firmware in a QA environment.

• Familiarity with hardware debugging tools and methodologies.

-Experience with board bring-up

• Experience with version control systems like Git.

• In-depth knowledge of Linux kernel modules, including testing custom kernel module functionality and troubleshooting issues.

• Experience with device drivers: testing for compatibility, performance, and stability across different hardware configurations (e.g., I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO).

• Linux bootloader testing (e.g., U-Boot): validating the boot process, configuration, and firmware loading.

• Testing Linux system calls and APIs used by firmware and drivers, ensuring compliance and performance in constrained environments.

• Network stack testing on Linux, including testing Ethernet drivers, network protocols (TCP/IP, UDP), and wireless connectivity.

• Familiarity with filesystems commonly used in embedded Linux (e.g., ext4, JFFS2, or YAFFS) and testing read/write performance and reliability.

• Experience with power management testing for embedded Linux devices, including testing suspend/resume cycles, and validating energy efficiency.

• Experience using Linux diagnostic and monitoring tools (e.g., dmesg, strace, lsof, iotop, and perf) to identify and troubleshoot issues during firmware execution.