Senior Edge AI Applications Engineer (Hardware & Embedded ML Lab)

Job Description

About the Role & The Reality AI Lab

The Renesas AIoT Center of Excellence in Columbia, MD (formerly Reality AI) is seeking a hands-on Senior Edge AI Applications Engineer to lead our physical lab setup, fabricate sensor prototyping rigs, and deploy low-power machine learning models directly onto microcontrollers (MCUs).

This is a physical, hardware-centric engineering role. You will work at the exact intersection of physical system fabrication, digital signal processing (DSP), C/C++ embedded firmware, and TinyML. You will physically instrument motor control setups, audio arrays, and vibration sensors, collect high-frequency time-series datasets off real physical targets, write DSP feature extraction, and compress ML models to run within kilobytes of RAM on Renesas MCUs.

What This Role IS NOT (Please Read Before Applying)

• This IS NOT a Cloud AI, NLP, or LLM Role: If your primary experience is with LangChain, PySpark, RAG pipelines, or fine-tuning Large Language Models in the cloud, this role is not a fit.

• This IS NOT a Remote Software Position: You will be physically building rigs, soldering, testing hardware with oscilloscopes, and working in our dedicated Columbia, MD lab 100% onsite.

Key Responsibilities

• Physical Prototyping & Lab Management: Hands-on fabrication of physical prototype rigs, custom sensor arrays, and 3D-printed enclosures to capture real-world physical phenomena.

• High-Frequency Sensor Data Acquisition: Instrument physical setups (motors, HVAC, industrial machines, automotive targets) to capture, clean, and preprocess high-frequency time-series datasets (accelerometers, acoustic, electrical, current/voltage).

• TinyML & On-Device Model Deployment: Train, quantize (INT8/FP16), and deploy tiny machine learning models onto microcontrollers (ARM Cortex-M, Renesas RA/RX/RL78) using TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers, CMSIS-NN, or eIQ.

• Digital Signal Processing (DSP): Apply DSP feature extraction (FFT, spectrograms, windowing, bandpass filtering, time-domain features) to feed edge inference pipelines.

• Embedded Firmware & Driver Development: Write C/C++ code, bare-metal or RTOS drivers (FreeRTOS, Zephyr), and handle low-level communication (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, DMA).

• Technical Leadership: Lead junior lab engineers, manage physical lab setups, and collaborate cross-functionally with product and systems teams.

Qualifications

• Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical field.

• Experience: 3+ years of hands-on experience in embedded systems, hardware prototyping, and deploying edge ML/DSP algorithms onto physical hardware targets.

• Hardware & Prototyping Skills: Proven experience with physical assembly, breadboarding, soldering, 3D printing, schematic reading, and bench debugging using JTAG/SWD, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers.

• Signal Processing (DSP): Demonstrated fluency in time-series and audio signal processing (spectral analysis, filtering, feature extraction in Python/MATLAB).

• Firmware & Embedded C/C++: Hands-on C/C++ programming for MCUs, RTOS task management, DMA queues, and low-level peripheral drivers.

• On-Device ML: Practical experience with TinyML frameworks (TensorFlow Lite Micro, CMSIS-NN, Edge Impulse) and model quantization/compression for constrained MCU targets.

Additional Information

The expected annual pay range for this position is $84,000 - $105,000. This position is also eligible for   bonus opportunities and commission pay.  Please note that the final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience, and skillset of the candidate. 

Renesas offers a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, and pet insurance. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive company-paid life insurance and AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as paid sick time, paid holidays, and accrued paid vacation. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources. 

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose, To Make Our Lives Easier. With a global team of over 21,000 engineers and problem solvers in more than 30 countries, we offer the opportunity to work on world‑leading technology for Automotive, Industrial, Infrastructure, and IoT, shaping a safer, healthier, greener, and smarter future.

At Renesas, TAGIE is our culture, grounded in being Transparent, Agile, Global, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial. It shapes how we work, grow and deliver on our purpose together. This collaborative spirit and mindset drive our semiconductor technology to transform industries and impact millions of lives.

We believe in rewarding our employees with a competitive benefits package alongside their salary. More information will be provided during the hiring process.

Are you ready to join our team and shape the future with us?

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, committed to supporting diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information, please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.

Renesas Electronics deals with dual-use technology that is subject to U.S. export controls regulations. Under these regulations it may be necessary for Renesas to obtain U.S. government export license prior to release of technology to certain persons. The decision whether or not to file or pursue an export license application is at the sole discretion of Renesas.

Company Description

Renesas is one of the top global semiconductor companies in the world. We strive to develop a safer, healthier, greener, and smarter world, and our goal is to make every endpoint intelligent by offering product solutions in the automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT markets. Our robust product portfolio includes world leading MCUs, SoCs, Analog and power products, plus Winning Combination solutions that curate these complementary products. We are a key supplier to the world’s leading manufacturers of electronics you rely on every day; you may not see our products, but they are all around you.

Renesas employs roughly 21,000 people in more than 30 countries worldwide. As a global team, our employees actively embody the Renesas Culture, our guiding principles based on five key elements: Transparent, Agile, Global, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial. Renesas believes in, and has a commitment to, diversity and inclusion, with initiatives and a leadership team dedicated to its resources and values. At Renesas, we want to build a sustainable future where technology helps make our lives easier. Join us and build your future by being part of what’s next in electronics and the world.