Senior Embedded Software Engineer, Kernel

Every community deserves to be safe, it’s a fundamental right. Our mission is simple - to build technology that reduces crime and protects privacy. Flock partners with cities, businesses, schools, and neighborhoods to help protect where people live, work, and play. Last year, Flock technology supported over 1 million criminal investigations. We've also helped solve approximately 20% of reported crimes in areas where we're deployed, and have played a role in locating more than 10,000 missing people.

We are a high-performance team united by urgency, ownership, and a shared commitment to meaningful impact. The work is fast-paced and the expectations are high. We push beyond perceived limits, support each other, and hold ourselves accountable to delivering results that matter.

With over $1B in funding and an $8.3B valuation, we are scaling with intention and investing in the people who will help us build what others said could not be done. At Flock, you will find the opportunity to grow quickly, take on real responsibility, and contribute to something bigger than yourself.

Flock Safety is seeking a Senior Kernel Engineer to join our Device OS Team to solve one of our most critical engineering challenges: building an ultra-stable, rapid-deployment operating system foundation for our expanding next-generation device fleet. Our solar-powered LPR and live-video cameras (including our Picard, PTZ, and Puffin programs) operate in demanding, real-world conditions where firmware stability directly impacts public safety.

In this pivotal role, you will eliminate system vulnerabilities and accelerate hardware execution by driving low-level Qualcomm Android BSP bring-up, devicetree modifications, and pSIM framework implementations. Collaborating across electrical engineering and application teams, you will bridge the gap between complex hardware architectures and cloud-connected software to ensure our life-saving devices never drop a frame.

We're looking for people with:

• A Bachelors, Masters, or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 8+ years experience

• Proven track record of working with a large fleet of connected devices, a good understanding of different phases of their lifecycle and related challenges

• Development experience within embedded systems/firmware design at multiple stages of the product life cycle (prototyping, pre-production engineering validation, release and scaling)

• Experience with chipset bring-up within Linux or Android ecosystems

• Experience with Android system architecture (HAL, Android Linux Kernel, Android Build System, etc)

• Mastery of C and C++

• Experience in bootloader development and customization, including familiarity with XBL (eXtensible Boot Loader) and ABL (Android Boot Loader) concepts and implementation

• Proven ability to develop and debug firmware for Application Digital Signal Processors (ADSP), understanding their architecture and software development lifecycle

• Comfortable working in a Linux-based development environment, including custom tooling, containers, Gerrit/Git, etc

• Comfortable providing onsite support for new projects at the Coop once or twice a year as priorities come up

• Familiar with AI-assisted engineering practices, including the strategic, concurrent use of multiple AI agents (Claude, Copilot, Codex) to optimize development velocity

The ideal candidate will have:

• Strong knowledge of Linux internals (memory management, power management, IRQ handling, synchronization, networking, storage, subsystem architecture)

• Experience bringing up Linux Kernel drivers for common peripheral bus technologies including SPI, I2C, UART, is a big plus

• Experience with Kotlin and Android apps development

• Experience with Qualcomm chipset devices is a plus

• Experience with customizing “Qualcomm Proprietary” subsystems(BP) is a big plus!

• Experience with battery-powered/power constrained devices is a plus

• Experience with ARM Cortex Microcontroller (NRF5x, STM32x, etc.) is a plus

Feeling uneasy that you haven’t ticked every box? That’s okay; we’ve felt that way too. Studies have shown women and minorities are less likely to apply unless they meet all qualifications. We encourage you to break the status quo and apply to roles that would make you excited to come to work every day.

We are a results-oriented culture and believe job descriptions are a thing of the past. We prescribe to 90 day plans and believe that good days, lead to good weeks, which lead to good months. This serves as a preview of the 90 day plan you will receive if you were to be hired as a Senior Firmware Engineer at Flock Safety.

The First 30 Days:

• Immerse in the Device OS Foundation: Learn the intricacies of Flock's architecture, hardware designs, development lifecycle, and toolchain. Set up your development workflow, build system, and gain deep familiarity with our systems.

• Drive Immediate Target Impact: Work closely with electrical engineering peers to review design schematics and define/execute the low-level hardware integration work needed to bring new connectivity capabilities to our device fleet.

• Connect and Collaborate: Establish your cross-functional footprint by setting up 1-on-1s with key stakeholders across our Kernel, Device OS, Next-Gen Software, and Validation teams to understand Flock's rapid deployment culture and device product goals.

The First 60 Days:

• Contribute to Next-Gen Chipset Bring-Up: Shift focus heavily toward bring-up efforts for our latest camera hardware platform, built on a leading edge chipset reference design. Partner closely with fellow kernel engineers to isolate, debug, and eliminate low-level system pain points.

• Empower Device Validation: Team up with the Device Validation team to significantly increase automated testing capabilities. Facilitate scripting, debug hooks, and custom tooling support to optimize the hardware triage and verification workflow.

• Own the Release Cycle: Grow comfortable pushing code securely through our version control and code review systems, running builds through our CI pipeline, navigating peer reviews, and deploying stable OS builds directly to physical devices.

90 Days & Beyond:

• Stabilize the Camera Fleet: Shift from learning to full ownership by contributing to the stability, debug workflow, and triage of our active camera programs running in the field.

• Optimize the Software Stack: Spend time deeply integrated with application and framework developers to thoroughly understand the entire device software stack. Leverage this knowledge to identify, analyze, and optimize latency or performance bottlenecks between the low-level hardware layers and cloud-connected applications.

• Scale the Fleet Engine: Become a rolling, fully autonomous contributor to the Device OS roadmap. Ensure that Flock's embedded OS architecture scales gracefully as the company rapidly expands its physical product portfolio to keep communities safe.

In this role, you’ll receive a starting salary of $172,000-$190,000 as well as stock options. Base salary is determined by job-related experience, education/training, as well as market indicators. Your recruiter will discuss this in-depth with you during our first chat.

We’re building the impossible, together. To drive innovation through in-person collaboration, we’re prioritizing candidates in our key hubs: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Austin. While we value the energy of our hub communities, we embrace remote work and welcome applications from exceptional talent across the United States.

🌴Flexible PTO: We offer non-accrual PTO, plus 11 company holidays.

⚕️Fully-paid health benefits plan for employees: including Medical, Dental, and Vision and an HSA match.

👪Family Leave: All employees receive 12 weeks of 100% paid parental leave. Birthing parents are eligible for an additional 6-8 weeks of physical recovery time.

🍼Fertility & Family Benefits: We have partnered with Maven, a complete digital health benefit for starting and raising a family. Flock will provide a $50,000-lifetime maximum benefit related to eligible adoption, surrogacy, or fertility expenses.

🧠Spring Health: Spring Health offers a variety of mental health benefits, including therapy, coaching, medication management, and digital tools, all tailored to each individual's needs.

💖Caregiver Support: We have partnered with Cariloop to provide our employees with caregiver support

💸Carta Tax Advisor: Employees receive 1:1 sessions with Equity Tax Advisors who can address individual grants, model tax scenarios, and answer general questions.

💚ERGs: We want all employees to thrive and feel like they belong at Flock. We offer four ERGs today - Women of Flock, Flock Proud, LEOs and Melanin Motion. If you are interested in talking to a representative from one of these, please let your recruiter know.

💻WFH Stipend: $150 per month to cover the costs of working from home.

📚Productivity Stipend: $300 per year to use on Audible, Calm, Masterclass, Duolingo and so much more.

🏠Home Office Stipend: A one-time $750 to help you create your dream office.

If an offer is extended and accepted, this position requires the ability to obtain and maintain Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) certification as a condition of employment. Applicants must meet all FBI CJIS Security Policy requirements, including a fingerprint-based background check.

Flock is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diverse backgrounds and thoughts and welcome everyone to apply for employment with us. We are committed to fostering an environment that is inclusive, transparent, and collaborative. Mutual respect is central to how Flock operates, and we believe the best solutions come from diverse perspectives, experiences, and skills. We embrace our differences and know that we are stronger working together.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please email us at [email protected]. This information will be treated as confidential and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the interview process.

At Flock, we compensate our employees fairly for their work. Base salary is determined by job-related experience, education/training, as well as market indicators. The range above is representative of base salary only and does not include equity, sales bonus plans (when applicable) and benefits. This range may be modified in the future. This job posting may span more than one career level.

Flock is aware of fraudulent individuals and agencies falsely claiming to represent our company. All legitimate communication from Flock will come from an email address ending in @flocksafety.com. We do not make job offers through messaging apps, social platforms, or unauthorized third parties, and we will never request payment or sensitive personal information during the hiring process. If you encounter suspicious outreach related to a Flock role, please report it to [email protected]