As the Head of Firmware, you will lead the design, development, and deployment of embedded software across all UAV flight platforms. You will re-define the entire hardware architecture of unmanned aerial vehicles. You will manage a growing team of embedded engineers, and ensure the successful integration of several sub-systems (meeting Mil grade standards) with onboard hardware. Your work will directly impact aircraft safety, responsiveness, and feature capabilities.
You’ll also collaborate closely with autonomy, hardware, perception, and systems integration teams to ensure smooth end-to-end operation from sensor to sky.
- Firmware Architecture & Development
Own and evolve the firmware architecture for UAV flight systems, ensuring modularity, scalability, and performance.
Lead the design and development of high performance flight controllers meeting DO-178 standards.
Develop sub-systems required to perform end-to-end operations (Launch platforms, Charging infra, Base stations, communication Equipment etc)
Work with high speed interfaces for motor control, sensor input(GPS, IMUs, barometers, Lidar etc.), telemetry, and power management to create smart sub-systems in UAVs.
Ensure low-latency, deterministic, and fail-safe execution on embedded platforms.
- Testing, Reliability & Validation
Define and drive the firmware testing strategy, including:
Unit testing
HIL/SIL simulations
Regression testing
Flight validation and fault injection
Ensure the firmware meets real-time performance, safety, and reliability goals under varying mission conditions.
Own firmware reliability metrics and track bug resolution and release cycles.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with:
Hardware team for board bring-up, sensor interfaces, and power systems.
Autonomy and controls teams to ensure closed-loop control systems are stable and efficient.
Systems integration to support test campaigns, tuning, and logs.
Collaborate with the CTO and other department leads on overall technical roadmap and priorities.
- Compliance, Safety, and Process
Contribute to or lead efforts for firmware certification readiness (e.g., DO-178C, ISO 26262).
Establish robust version control, release management, and CI/CD pipelines for firmware deployment.
Ensure secure and recoverable firmware systems are in place (e.g., bootloaders, firmware upgrades, watchdogs).
Requirements
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or related fields.
6+ years of experience in embedded systems / firmware development, with atleast 1 year in a leadership role.
Strong expertise in C/C++ for real-time systems.
Deep experience with flight control stacks like PX4, ArduPilot, or custom autopilot software.
Hands-on experience with RTOS environments (VxWorks, FreeRTOS, RTEMS, etc.).
Strong understanding of sensor internals, data formats, failure conditions, and tolerating failures.
Experience with board bring-up and bootloader design.
Ability to work hands-on or design hardware debugging tools (oscilloscope, JTAG, logic analyzer, Test environments / jigs).
Experience working on DO-178C or other safety-critical systems.
Familiarity with certified RTOS (INTEGRITY, SafeRTOS, etc.).
Experience in flight test support and analyzing log data (e.g., uLog, MAVLink).
Contributions to open-source firmware projects (PX4, ArduPilot, etc.).
Knowledge of CI/CD for embedded systems (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, custom pipelines).
Benefits
A high-impact leadership role in shaping the core of our flight systems.
Be part of a collaborative team passionate about innovation.
Access to real hardware, test ranges, and flight platforms.
Build the next era of UAVs and autonomy.
Competitive salary and equity options.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or related fields
- 6+ years of experience in embedded systems/firmware development, with at least 1 year in a leadership role
- Strong expertise in C/C++ for real-time systems
- Deep experience with flight control stacks like PX4, ArduPilot
- Hands-on experience with RTOS environments
- Experience with board bring-up and bootloader design
- Ability to work hands-on with hardware debugging tools
What We Do
Unmannd is a defense technology startup that designs and manufactures autonomous drones for logistics, counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), and aerial security applications.
