Job Summary
Ember Life Sciences is seeking a Firmware QA Engineer to improve reliability across our IoT-enabled cold chain logistics platform serving healthcare and pharmaceutical customers. This role is firmware-focused and hands-on. You will spend significant time running manual tests on real hardware, reproducing issues, collecting logs, and performing ship testing (pre-deployment verification) to ensure devices behave correctly before they go out to customers.
You will work closely with firmware and hardware engineering, and coordinate with backend and operations as needed to validate end-to-end behavior.
Responsibilities
Validate firmware releases on hardware against defined scope and acceptance criteria
Execute manual regression testing across core device behaviors (power, sensors, charging, connectivity, fault recovery)
Perform ship testing and pre-deployment verification, including device setup, configuration checks, and release readiness validation for outgoing units
Run dedicated firmware test passes for each release (smoke, regression, and targeted suites) and report clear pass/fail results
Validate GPS functionality and firmware behavior, including time to first fix, accuracy checks, signal loss and recovery, and low-signal edge cases
Reproduce and triage device issues using logs and lab tools (serial logs, in-house tools)
Partner with firmware and hardware engineers early to clarify expected behavior, edge cases, and testability needs
Validate connectivity behavior relevant to firmware, including pairing and stability
Support investigation and reproduction of customer-impacting issues by capturing device evidence and helping isolate root cause boundaries
Contribute light scripting and tooling to speed up repetitive checks (Python, shell), but automation is not the core requirement
Communicate quality status, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to cross-functional stakeholders
Requirements and Skills
Experience testing connected systems such as IoT platforms, distributed services, or cloud-based applications
Familiarity with embedded firmware validation concepts and hardware integrated testing
Strong understanding of test design, regression strategies, and risk-based testing
Experience validating production facing releases and assessing customer impact
Ability to identify gaps in coverage and communicate quality risk clearly
Ability to work effectively across engineering, product, operations, and support teams
Comfortable clarifying scope, asking questions, and pushing back on priorities using data and risk
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Pragmatic and outcomes focused, prioritizing impact over activity
Able to balance execution with continuous improvement while managing competing priorities
Nice to Have
Experience validating firmware update flows (OTA or local) and confirming true device version after update
Experience testing GPS modules and interpreting GPS-related logs (Time to first fix, accuracy metrics)
Scripting experience in bash/shell and/or Python for test utilities, log parsing, and repeatable validation workflows.
Experience in regulated or safety-conscious environments (healthcare, life sciences, aerospace, OEM)
Skills Required
- Experience testing connected systems such as IoT platforms, distributed services, or cloud-based applications
- Familiarity with embedded firmware validation concepts and hardware integrated testing
- Strong understanding of test design, regression strategies, and risk-based testing
- Experience validating production-facing releases and assessing customer impact
- Ability to reproduce and triage device issues using logs and lab tools (serial logs, in-house tools)
- Ability to work effectively across engineering, product, operations, and support teams
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Scripting experience in Python and/or Bash/Shell for test utilities and log parsing
- Experience validating firmware update flows (OTA or local) and confirming device version after update
- Experience testing GPS modules and interpreting GPS-related logs (time to first fix, accuracy metrics)
- Experience in regulated or safety-conscious environments (healthcare, life sciences, aerospace, OEM)
What We Do
Ember LifeSciences is a healthcare technology company dedicated to redefining global medicine distribution. Leveraging proprietary temperature control technology, the company provides secure and sustainable cold chain solutions, such as the Ember Cube, to transport life-saving medicines and vaccines. Its mission is to save lives, improve patient outcomes, and reduce waste within the pharmaceutical supply chain through innovative, cloud-based shipping solutions.
