Senior Hardware Driver Engineer

Location: Praha, Czechia

Thales people architect identity management and data protection solutions at the heart of digital security. Business and governments rely on us to bring trust to the billons of digital interactions they have with people. Our technologies and services help banks exchange funds, people cross borders, energy become smarter and much more. More than 30,000 organizations already rely on us to verify the identities of people and things, grant access to digital services, analyze vast quantities of information and encrypt data to make the connected world more secure.

Thales in the Czech Republic employs over 400 people from 45 different nationalities. A total of 15 teams work on projects for government agencies, banking, mobile services and the Internet Of Things (IoT) technology. At the core of our business is the development of software which we configure and embed in a multitude of different devices and form factors. These include many kinds of payment cards, SIM cards, travel passes, secure eBanking devices, authentication tokens, machine identification modules (MIM), and secure ID documents including ePassports, eID and eHealth cards, as well as eDriving licenses. Because of the international environment surrounding us every day, it comes as no surprise that English is our official corporate language.

As a member of a collaborative development team, the Junior Hardware Engineer will be instrumental in the development of our hardware accelerator product that is used in biometrics matching systems for fingerprint matching. The primary objective is to continually improve the performance and reliability of our hardware based biometric matching accelerators through innovative design and the use of various technological tools and methodologies.

The Jr. H/W Engineer will work closely with engineers of various disciplines to ensure the quality and timely delivery of our hardware accelerator product line. The Jr. H/W Engineer will also work closely with product and program managers, customers, and 3rd party suppliers, as required.
 

List the essential functions required for this position to exist. Also, list the responsibilities that must be completed in achieving the objectives of the position. Include all important aspects of the job -- whether performed daily, weekly, monthly, or annually; and any that occur at irregular intervals. Focus these responses on direct actions or key functions.

• Program in C/C++ at both the Linux user application and Linux kernel levels
• Understand Linux operating system internals
• Work with hardware software interfaces and computer systems buses; such as PCIe bus
• Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of Linux operating system multiple tasking/multiple threading, inter-process communications, synchronization, memory management and interrupt processing
• Demonstrate a solid knowledge of Linux shell and scripting languages; such as bash and Python
• Utilize a variety of software development and debugging tools, configuration management tools, and defect tracking tools; i.e. Confluence, JIRA, Mercurial

You will be responsible for:

• Designing and implementing the hardware accelerator system driver, driver software API, and hardware accelerator testing code in the biometrics hardware systems to achieve highest performance and reliability, as per requirements
• Working with image processing specialists to design and implement the image processing hardware acceleration systems
• Working with FPGA firmware & matching system S/W engineers, to formulate solutions that meet all final product requirements
• Providing product support to both internal and external customers, as required

Include minimum experience qualifications, required proficiencies with specialized knowledge, computer proficiencies, etc.

• 1-2 years of experience in Linux system hardware driver development
• BS degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering

Preferred attributes for the position, which are not required in the minimum qualifications (e.g., master degree)

• Project and course experiences with any biometrics pattern recognition technology
• Experiences with using Xilinx or Intel FPGA for product development

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working. Great journeys start here, apply now!