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Firmware Developer

IBM

IBM

Software Engineering
Waterford, Ireland
Posted on Jan 31, 2026
Introduction

Join a team where your work directly shapes the foundation of enterprise‑grade systems. This position is ideal for mid-level engineers with a strong foundation in systems programming and hands-on professional experience building and maintaining low-level software.

As a Firmware Developer, you’ll design and build the low‑level software that powers high‑performance platforms, collaborating closely with experts in embedded Linux and open‑source technologies. This role offers the perfect opportunity for engineers ready to step into deeper technical ownership while continuing to grow their systems‑level expertise.

This is a hybrid position requiring onsite work 3 days per week.

Your role and responsibilities

As a key member of the firmware engineering team, you will:

  • Design and document new system‑level features.
  • Implement clean, reliable code for embedded and low‑level environments.
  • Diagnose and resolve complex software defects and performance bottlenecks.
  • Participate in upstream open‑source communities by contributing patches and enhancements.
  • Collaborate with internal teams and clients to solve technical challenges.
  • Deliver high‑quality code through best‑practice engineering workflows, including CI/CD and automated validation.
Why This Role Is a Great Career Move
  • Work on meaningful, complex engineering problems that sit close to the hardware and directly influence system performance and reliability.
  • Grow your expertise in embedded Linux, enterprise platforms, and open‑source development—with structured opportunities to build knowledge of IBM Z technologies.
  • Own features end‑to‑end, from design to upstream contribution.
  • Be part of a highly technical team that values mentorship, collaboration, and continuous learning.
  • Contribute to open-source projects, showcasing your work to the broader engineering community.
Required education
None
Preferred education
Bachelor's Degree
Required technical and professional expertise
  • Demonstrated professional experience in low-level or systems software development.
  • Solid understanding of operating system internals, such as:
    • Memory management
    • Task scheduling
    • Interrupt handling
    • Device drivers
  • Professional experience with C or C++ (assembly experience is a plus but not required).
  • Strong knowledge of core Unix/Linux concepts (such as Tree structure or Kernel operations)
  • Experience using Git or similar source control systems.
  • Experience with scripting languages (such as Bash scripting) for tooling and automation.
  • Exposure to CI/CD pipelines and build automation.
  • Experience with software packaging and dependency management.
  • Understanding of computer architectures (e.g., x86_64, s390, ARM) and how architecture impacts software building and packaging.
Preferred technical and professional experience
  • Experience with Linux packaging systems (e.g., RPM, DEB, or similar).
  • Familiarity with IBM Z architecture, including Principles of Operations, Z assembler, or I/O concepts.
  • Prior open-source contributions
  • Background or interest in cryptography or security-related systems software

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Systems helps IT leaders think differently about their infrastructure. IBM servers and storage are no longer inanimate - they can understand, reason, and learn so our clients can innovate while avoiding IT issues. Our systems power the world’s most important industries and our clients are the architects of the future. Join us to help build our leading-edge technology portfolio designed for cognitive business and optimized for cloud computing.

YOUR LIFE @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you’ll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you’ll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

ABOUT IBM

IBM’s greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we’re also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it’s time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILS

For additional information about location requirements, please discuss with the recruiter following submission of your application.