Senior Firmware Engineer

Description

You will help architect, design, build, and maintain embedded hardware and firmware systems for new consumer and industrial electronics, using current technologies and modern engineering practices.

You own every stage of embedded software work, from requirements and architecture through coding, integration, testing, debugging, release, and upkeep. That covers device drivers, communication protocols, secure firmware updates, and other embedded applications.

The role suits an engineer who can handle medium to complex work, shape technical approaches, and propose inventive designs that balance performance, security, schedule, and cost. You will lead technical support staff in testing and analysis, and you will be expected to bring ideas and sound engineering judgment. Root-cause analysis of hard technical problems is a regular part of the job.

The team is open and communicative. Your point of view will be requested, though not every idea will be adopted.

Responsibilities

• Write organized, maintainable, easy-to-review embedded source code from requirements through production, and estimate development effort.
• Debug software and firmware with emulators, analyzers, simulators, and similar tools.
• Build applications against industry-standard technologies, defined APIs, specified SDKs, and applicable Apple MFi specifications.
• Create object libraries, applications, daemons, and drivers that run on embedded hardware.
• Write and maintain software designs, code, interface documents, verification plans, and end-user documentation.
• Program embedded applications in C or C++, and read or write assembly when needed.
• Develop applications and drivers for operating systems such as Zephyr, FreeRTOS, and IC vendor derivatives.
• Create board support packages for new hardware platforms.
• Apply working knowledge of software quality, configuration management, and release management.
• Produce clear, concise specifications, design documents, test outlines, procedures, and code review records.
• Use AI-assisted development tools for code, debugging, refactoring, documentation, tests, and code review, and check every output against requirements, architecture, coding standards, and confidentiality obligations.
• Design firmware security: secure boot, signed images, encrypted and authenticated communication, secure key handling, secure over-the-air update flows, rollback prevention, and mitigation of vulnerabilities.
• Practice secure coding, threat modeling, static analysis, dependency review, and peer review across the full lifecycle.
• Research upcoming projects, firmware technologies, AI-enabled engineering methods, and product security requirements. Present findings to corporate leadership and fold them into the team's technical strategy.
• Coordinate and integrate work with electrical, mechanical, quality, and software engineers, industrial designers, product managers, vendors, and manufacturing.
• Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing across the team.
• Keep project schedules and cost targets on track.
• Work independently, manage your own tasks, and collaborate with cross-functional teams on system integration.
• Work with outsourced engineering partners across time zones, and represent the company on-site as part of the engineering team.
• Take part in or lead peer and cross-functional design reviews.
• Handle other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• A Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent work experience is required. A Master of Science is optional.
• At least 5 years of embedded systems design and development in new product work, including consumer electronics design.
• Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience debugging and troubleshooting embedded applications.
• Experience tuning firmware for performance or size.
• Understanding of hardware-software interaction, memory management, and system-level optimization.
• Experience with embedded communication protocols: I2C, SPI, UART, and USB.
• Experience with RTOS development on ARM SoCs.
• Familiarity with board bring-up and debugging using power supplies, digital multimeters, oscilloscopes, and function generators.
• Experience with IDEs and toolchains such as VS Code and nRF Connect is a plus.
• Experience with bug tracking tools and CI/CD processes is valuable.
• Working knowledge of secure embedded practices: secure boot, cryptography, authentication, signed and encrypted OTA updates, rollback protection, secure key management, and vulnerability remediation.
• Experience with secure coding standards, static analysis, SCA, fuzz testing, SBOMs, or product security reviews is a plus.
• Ability to use test equipment and read basic schematics.
• Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools for code, tests, documentation, and technical analysis.
• Mastery of Git for source control.
• Experience with Agile or Scrum development cycles.
• Experience probing hardware at runtime to analyze software behavior.
• Experience with CMake and other build systems.
• Experience leading and mentoring firmware engineers, including technical guidance and code reviews.
• Experience with Bluetooth and BLE is required; familiarity with other wireless protocols is a plus.

Conditions

Location: El Segundo, California.

Base salary range: $130,000 - $145,000.

Actual pay depends on location, academic credentials, relevant experience, and specific knowledge, skills, and abilities.

The company is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, including for disability and veterans, and it maintains a drug-free workplace.

Benefits

• Performance-based bonus in addition to base pay.
• Medical, financial, and other benefits. Full details are available from the company.