STEM OPT Embedded Software Engineer Jobs
Embedded Software Engineer roles qualify for STEM OPT when your degree is in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related STEM field. Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify to sponsor the 24-month extension, giving you up to 36 months total to build your U.S. career in firmware, RTOS development, and hardware-software integration.
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We're seeking an experienced Systems Integration Engineer (SIE) to lead embedded firmware integration and interoperability efforts for Active Copper Cable (ACC) and Active Electrical Cable (AEC) products used in high-speed networking systems. This role focuses on firmware embedded within cable modules, enabling reliable link bring-up, management, and interoperability across multiple networking protocols and platforms.
In this role, you'll act as a technical authority for firmware supporting CMIS-managed active cables, working at the intersection of the OSI Physical (Layer 1) and Data Link (Layer 2). You'll collaborate closely with hardware validation, signal integrity, and networking teams to ensure robust interoperability with systems using Ethernet, PCIe, and InfiniBand.
This position is ideal for an embedded software engineer with a strong background in network devices, protocol behavior, and system-level integration, who enjoys solving cross-layer interoperability challenges.
Our Team
Molex's Copper Solutions Business Unit (CSBU) is a global team that works together to deliver exceptional products to worldwide telecommunication and data center customers. CSBU is one of the most highly technically advanced business units within Molex. Our engineering teams are designing cutting edge solutions for high-speed, high-density products that maximize speed, signal integrity, and efficiency.
Why Join Us?
You will play a critical role in defining how embedded firmware enables interoperability for ACC and AEC products across diverse networking platforms. This role offers deep technical ownership, hands-on system-level exposure, and the opportunity to influence how active cable firmware behaves across Layer 1 and Layer 2 boundaries.
You will work at the intersection of embedded software, hardware, and networking protocols, helping ensure reliable, scalable interoperability in lab and customer deployments.
What You Will Do
Embedded Firmware Integration:
- Troubleshoot bring-up and integration of embedded firmware within ACC/AEC cable modules
- Develop and integrate firmware running on DSPs, retimers, equalizers, and embedded controllers
- Implement and support CMIS-based management, configuration, and telemetry for active cables
- Validate firmware behavior across power-up, reset, link training, and runtime operation
Protocol & OSI Layer Interoperability:
- Debug issues spanning OSI Layer 1 (physical signaling, training, recovery) and OSI Layer 2 (link initialization, framing dependencies, error conditions)
- Analyze firmware behavior during system-level link bring-up and interoperability testing
Debug, Root-Cause, & Qualification Support:
- Lead firmware-centric root-cause analysis for qualification and interoperability failures
- Debug interactions between firmware, hardware, signal integrity, and link-level protocol behavior
- Instrument firmware to improve observability, diagnostics, and validation coverage
Cross-Functional Technical Leadership:
- Partner closely with hardware validation, networking, and data analysis engineers
- Review firmware requirements, CMIS assumptions, and protocol-specific behaviors
- Support technical escalations and mentor engineers on embedded firmware and interop best practices
Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or relevant engineering or IT related field
- Experience developing or integrating embedded firmware for networking or hardware-adjacent systems
- Working knowledge of CMIS and active cable management interfaces
- Experience debugging issues across physical and data link layers of the OSI model
- Experience resolving complex firmware-hardware interop issues
What Will Put You Ahead
- Experience with firmware for DSP- or retimer-based interconnects
- Familiarity with link training state machines, error recovery, and protocol bring-up
- Experience in interoperability, qualification, or compliance testing environments
- Experience working closely with PCA design, signal integrity, or HW validation teams
At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.
Hiring Philosophy
All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here.
Who We Are
As a Koch company, Molex is a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect components, driving innovation in electronics and supporting industries from automotive to health care and consumer to data communications. The thousands of innovators who work for Molex have made us a global electronics leader. Our experienced people, groundbreaking products and leading-edge technologies help us deliver a wider array of solutions to more markets than ever before.
At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.
Our Benefits
Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.
Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.
Equal Opportunities
Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here, aquí, or tu).
Your Job
We're seeking an experienced Systems Integration Engineer (SIE) to lead embedded firmware integration and interoperability efforts for Active Copper Cable (ACC) and Active Electrical Cable (AEC) products used in high-speed networking systems. This role focuses on firmware embedded within cable modules, enabling reliable link bring-up, management, and interoperability across multiple networking protocols and platforms.
In this role, you'll act as a technical authority for firmware supporting CMIS-managed active cables, working at the intersection of the OSI Physical (Layer 1) and Data Link (Layer 2). You'll collaborate closely with hardware validation, signal integrity, and networking teams to ensure robust interoperability with systems using Ethernet, PCIe, and InfiniBand.
This position is ideal for an embedded software engineer with a strong background in network devices, protocol behavior, and system-level integration, who enjoys solving cross-layer interoperability challenges.
Our Team
Molex's Copper Solutions Business Unit (CSBU) is a global team that works together to deliver exceptional products to worldwide telecommunication and data center customers. CSBU is one of the most highly technically advanced business units within Molex. Our engineering teams are designing cutting edge solutions for high-speed, high-density products that maximize speed, signal integrity, and efficiency.
Why Join Us?
You will play a critical role in defining how embedded firmware enables interoperability for ACC and AEC products across diverse networking platforms. This role offers deep technical ownership, hands-on system-level exposure, and the opportunity to influence how active cable firmware behaves across Layer 1 and Layer 2 boundaries.
You will work at the intersection of embedded software, hardware, and networking protocols, helping ensure reliable, scalable interoperability in lab and customer deployments.
What You Will Do
Embedded Firmware Integration:
- Troubleshoot bring-up and integration of embedded firmware within ACC/AEC cable modules
- Develop and integrate firmware running on DSPs, retimers, equalizers, and embedded controllers
- Implement and support CMIS-based management, configuration, and telemetry for active cables
- Validate firmware behavior across power-up, reset, link training, and runtime operation
Protocol & OSI Layer Interoperability:
- Debug issues spanning OSI Layer 1 (physical signaling, training, recovery) and OSI Layer 2 (link initialization, framing dependencies, error conditions)
- Analyze firmware behavior during system-level link bring-up and interoperability testing
Debug, Root-Cause, & Qualification Support:
- Lead firmware-centric root-cause analysis for qualification and interoperability failures
- Debug interactions between firmware, hardware, signal integrity, and link-level protocol behavior
- Instrument firmware to improve observability, diagnostics, and validation coverage
Cross-Functional Technical Leadership:
- Partner closely with hardware validation, networking, and data analysis engineers
- Review firmware requirements, CMIS assumptions, and protocol-specific behaviors
- Support technical escalations and mentor engineers on embedded firmware and interop best practices
Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or relevant engineering or IT related field
- Experience developing or integrating embedded firmware for networking or hardware-adjacent systems
- Working knowledge of CMIS and active cable management interfaces
- Experience debugging issues across physical and data link layers of the OSI model
- Experience resolving complex firmware-hardware interop issues
What Will Put You Ahead
- Experience with firmware for DSP- or retimer-based interconnects
- Familiarity with link training state machines, error recovery, and protocol bring-up
- Experience in interoperability, qualification, or compliance testing environments
- Experience working closely with PCA design, signal integrity, or HW validation teams
At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.
Hiring Philosophy
All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here.
Who We Are
As a Koch company, Molex is a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect components, driving innovation in electronics and supporting industries from automotive to health care and consumer to data communications. The thousands of innovators who work for Molex have made us a global electronics leader. Our experienced people, groundbreaking products and leading-edge technologies help us deliver a wider array of solutions to more markets than ever before.
At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.
Our Benefits
Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.
Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.
Equal Opportunities
Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here, aquí, or tu).
See all 504+ Embedded Software Engineer jobs
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization as an Embedded Software Engineer
Verify your CIP code before applying
Check that your degree's Classification of Instructional Programs code maps to an approved STEM field under the DHS STEM designated degree list. Electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science codes are the most common matches for Embedded Software Engineer roles, but applied mathematics degrees can also qualify.
Confirm E-Verify enrollment before accepting offers
Ask your recruiter directly whether the company is enrolled in E-Verify before you reach the offer stage. Defense contractors and automotive OEMs almost universally are enrolled, but smaller IoT startups often are not, which disqualifies them from sponsoring your STEM OPT extension.
Build your I-983 training plan around firmware deliverables
Your I-983 must list specific learning objectives tied to your STEM degree. For embedded roles, map objectives to areas like bare-metal programming, RTOS configuration, or hardware bring-up so your DSO and employer can validate the connection between your coursework and your on-the-job training.
Target employers with hardware product pipelines
Companies shipping physical products, whether automotive ECUs, medical devices, or industrial PLCs, need sustained embedded engineering headcount and plan hiring 12 to 18 months out. That timeline aligns well with STEM OPT extensions and makes them more likely to support your full authorization period.
Search Migrate Mate to filter for E-Verify employers
Use Migrate Mate to find Embedded Software Engineer roles at employers already verified as E-Verify participants, so you're not wasting applications on companies that can't support your extension. Filter by STEM OPT to surface roles where the authorization path is already established.
Time your extension filing against your OPT end date
File your STEM OPT extension with USCIS at least 90 days before your initial OPT expires. If your application is pending on your end date, cap-gap protections don't apply to OPT the way they do to H-1B transitions, so a late filing creates an unauthorized gap in employment.
Embedded Software Engineer jobs are hiring across the US. Find yours.
Find Embedded Software Engineer JobsFrequently Asked Questions
Does an Embedded Software Engineer role qualify for STEM OPT?
Yes, if your degree is in a STEM field listed on the DHS designated degree list, such as electrical engineering, computer engineering, or computer science, and your role involves applying that technical knowledge. The job title alone doesn't determine eligibility; what matters is the direct connection between your degree's CIP code and the engineering work you're performing. Your DSO confirms this connection when approving your I-983.
What does the I-983 training plan need to include for this role?
Your I-983 must describe specific goals, direct supervision, and a clear link between your embedded engineering work and your STEM degree. For this role, that typically means listing objectives around firmware development, debugging embedded systems, or hardware-software integration. Your employer's supervisor signs the form, and both you and your employer are responsible for reporting any material changes in your position or training goals to your DSO within five business days.
Does my employer need to be enrolled in E-Verify to sponsor STEM OPT?
Yes. E-Verify enrollment is a federal requirement for any employer sponsoring a STEM OPT extension, with no exceptions. Before you accept an offer, ask the recruiter or HR team to confirm their E-Verify company ID. If the company isn't enrolled, they cannot legally employ you on a STEM OPT extension. You can find Embedded Software Engineer roles at confirmed E-Verify employers through Migrate Mate.
How does cap-gap work if I apply for an H-1B during my STEM OPT period?
If your employer files a timely H-1B petition on your behalf before your STEM OPT expires and you're selected in the lottery, cap-gap automatically extends your work authorization through September 30 of that year. Your EAD and F-1 status both remain valid during this gap period. USCIS does not issue a new document for cap-gap; your existing EAD combined with the H-1B receipt notice serves as evidence of continued authorization.
What STEM degrees qualify for the extension in embedded software engineering?
Degrees in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, and systems engineering are the most common qualifiers for Embedded Software Engineer roles. Some applied mathematics and physics degrees also qualify depending on the specific CIP code. Your degree must appear on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List, and your DSO verifies the match when you apply for the extension. Degrees in general business or non-technical disciplines do not qualify regardless of job title.
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