Director, System Software and Firmware Engineering

 

Director, Engineering — System Software & Firmware

Location: San Mateo, CA, USA

Travel: Up to 20% international

PlayStation is looking for a Director of System Software and Firmware Engineering to head a worldwide team. This group develops core technology for PlayStation hardware, including and beyond the console. The role also manages the roadmap and delivery of PlayStation Link for both first-party hardware and third-party partner products. It requires close collaboration with external technology partners and PlayStation engineering teams globally.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a global organization accountable for system software and firmware within the PlayStation Product Development organization.
• Own the technical strategy and multi-year roadmap for:

1. System Software (device drivers and low-level system utilities/SDKs) across PS5, PlayStation Portal, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

1. Firmware running on SoCs/microcontrollers, typically in minimal/no-OS environments.

• Drive software system architecture, build reviews, and technical decisions that balance performance, power, latency, reliability, security, and manufacturability.
• Deliver end-to-end execution from early prototypes through production and post-launch sustainment, in close partnership with hardware engineering, ecosystem engineering, program management, operations, QA, product, and security.
• Lead the PlayStation Link technology roadmap and delivery, including partner requirements, integration strategy, validation, and ecosystem enablement.
• Establish and maintain strong operating mechanisms (planning, metrics, quality targets, risk management, release readiness, blocking issue).
• Communicate clearly and influence effectively across globally distributed teams and executive collaborators.
• Hire, mentor, and develop engineering leaders; build a culture of accountability, technical excellence, and collaboration.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of engineering experience with deep expertise in system software, embedded systems, firmware, or platform engineering.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience managing managers and/or multi-team internal+external organizations, including hiring and org scaling.
• Demonstrated experience shipping products with tight hardware/software integration from bring-up through high-volume production.
• Proven ability to lead architecture and technical direction without being hands-on coding day-to-day.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills and experience driving alignment across teams in different locations/time zones.
• Experience collaborating with external partners to deliver coordinated technology and high-quality outcomes.
• Excellent communication skills (written, verbal, and executive-level).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with high-volume consumer electronics (consoles, portables, accessories/peripherals, audio/input devices).
• Familiarity with SoCs, embedded boot flows, secure update concepts, and low-level debugging.
• Cross-platform low-level experience on Linux/BSD/Windows/macOS/iOS/Android (drivers, services, privileged utilities).