Firmware Engineer - Data acquisition (EP-CMD-2025-155-GRAP)

Job Description

Your Responsibilities:

Are you a passionate firmware developer who enjoys developing complex digital electronics applications and working with state of the art FPGA technology? Join us in developing the custom electronics and corresponding firmware that will power the data acquisition system (DAQ) of the upgraded Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the High-Luminosity LHC.

We are upgrading the CMS experiment, and in particular the data acquisition, to handle the high data rates expected from proton-proton collisions in the upcoming High-Luminosity LHC phase. As part of this effort, we're commissioning new custom electronics boards and designing new network and processing firmware to enable the collection and selection of data from CMS at an unprecedented input rate of up to 80 Tb/s.

You will design and develop the firmware that deals with the transport and aggregation of data, using state of the art FPGA boards to implement modern network protocols in firmware. You will also have the opportunity to contribute to the R&D work for future DAQ electronic boards.

Responsibilities:

• In collaboration with other members of the group and others, develop the data aggregation and transport firmware that collects CMS data from the detector, and related control and configuration logics.
• Contribute to the testing and commissioning of the CMS DAQ custom electronic boards.
• Provide support to the CMS community for the commissioning of their systems with the DAQ readout boards produced by the group.
• Participate in the research and development for future custom DAQ electronics, including the implementation of modern network protocols in FPGAs.
• Contribute to the installation and commissioning of the DAQ system during the period 2026-2028.

Your Profile:

Skills:

• Extensive experience with firmware development using VHDL and/or other hardware description languages (HDLs).
• Experience with the development of firmware for high-speed digital electronics applications, in particular in the area of network protocols and related ancillary services.
• Experience with modern software suites for analysis, simulation, and synthesis of HDL designs (e.g. Xilinx Vivado).
• Use of collaborative development environments (git, gitlab) as well as CI/CD techniques.
• Some experience with development of custom high-speed digital electronics boards is a plus.
• Strong team collaboration skills and effective communication of work, including in presentations.
• Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French.

Eligibility Criteria:

• You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
• You have a professional background in Software Engineering or Applied Physics (or a related field) and have either:
• You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.
• a Master's degree with 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience;
• or a PhD with no more than 3 years of post-graduation professional experience.

Additional Information

• Job closing date: 22.10.2025 at 23:59 CEST.
• Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.
• Working hours: 40 hours per week
• Target start date: 01-January-2026

This Position Involves:

• Work during nights, Sundays and official holidays, when required by the needs of the Organization.

Job reference: EP-CMD-2025-155-GRAP

Field of work: Software Engineering and IT

What We Offer

• A monthly stipend ranging between 6287 and 6911 Swiss Francs per month (net of tax).
• Coverage by CERN's comprehensive health scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
• Depending on your individual circumstances: installation grant; family, child and infant allowances; payment of travel expenses at the beginning and end of contract.
• 30 days of paid leave per year.
• On-the-job and formal training at CERN as well as in-house language courses for English and/or French.

About Us

At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. Using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, they study the basic constituents of matter - fundamental particles that are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives physicists clues about how particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature. Find out more on http://home.cern.

We are on a Quest. A Journey into discovery like no other. Bring your expertise to our unique work and develop your knowledge and skills at pace. Join world-class subject matter experts on unique projects, in a Quest for greater knowledge and deeper understanding.

Begin your CERN Quest. Take Part!

Diversity has been an integral part of CERN's mission since its foundation and is an established value of the Organization. Employing a diverse workforce is central to our success.