Senior Embedded Systems Engineer

Posted 19 Days Ago
Be an Early Applicant
Santa Clara, CA, USA
In-Office
Senior level
Robotics
The Role
Develop and optimize firmware for robotics, ensuring communication and control systems work efficiently. Collaborate with multiple engineering disciplines and maintain firmware standards.
Summary Generated by Built In
The Role

We're looking for a Senior Embedded Systems Engineer to own the firmware and embedded software stack on general-purpose robots. You'll work at the intersection of hardware and software — developing motor control firmware, sensor interfaces, and communication infrastructure for general-purpose robots.

This is a high-ownership, hands-on role. You'll collaborate daily with mechanical, electrical, and controls engineers, and your firmware will be among the first code that runs on every new robot subsystem. You'll help define how we scale from lab prototype to deployed fleet.

What You'll Do
  • Architect and develop production-grade firmware for actuator controllers, sensor interfaces, and communication subsystems on the robots

  • Own hardware bring-up: write low-level peripheral drivers, validate new PCBs, and debug hardware/firmware boundary issues

  • Implement and optimize motor control algorithms — torque, velocity, and position loops — on bare-metal and RTOS platforms

  • Develop and maintain real-time communication stacks including EtherCAT, CAN, SPI, I2C, and UART

  • Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test infrastructure to enable fast, reliable iteration

  • Contribute to firmware safety architecture — fault detection, safe-state logic, and watchdog systems

  • Read and interpret schematics and datasheets; participate in hardware design reviews to give firmware perspective early

  • Establish firmware standards, coding practices, and review processes as the team scales

What We're Looking For

Required:

  • 5+ years of embedded firmware development experience in robotics, automotive, or industrial/consumer electronics — with at least some of that in a production-deployed product

  • Strong C and C++ skills for bare-metal and RTOS environments across multiple modern MCU families (e.g., ARM Cortex-M, TI C2000, Nordic nRF); breadth across vendors and architectures is valued over depth in any single platform

  • Hands-on experience with motor control or actuator firmware (FOC, torque control, or similar)

  • Proficiency with communication protocols: EtherCAT, CAN, SPI, I2C, UART — at the driver level, not just API usage

  • Hardware bring-up experience: JTAG, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and debugging across the firmware/hardware boundary

  • Ability to read schematics and PCB layouts; comfortable working directly with hardware engineers

Preferred:

  • Experience scaling firmware from prototype to high-volume production (hundreds to thousands of units)

  • Background in functional safety (ISO 26262, IEC 62443, or equivalent)

  • Python scripting for test automation and HIL frameworks

  • Familiarity with EtherCAT master/slave stack implementation (SOEM or equivalent)

  • Experience with power electronics firmware: BMS, DC-DC converters, or charging systems

  • Prior work in a vertically integrated robotics or hardware startup

  • Hands-on use of AI coding agents (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, etc.) to accelerate firmware development — writing prompts, reviewing AI-generated code, and integrating agentic workflows into embedded development cycles

Am I A Good Fit?
beta
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.

The Company
HQ: Santa Clara, California
15 Employees
Year Founded: 2024

What We Do

Building tomorrow's intelligence and automation.

Similar Jobs

Inspiren Logo Inspiren

Systems Engineer

Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Healthtech • Software
Easy Apply
In-Office or Remote
3 Locations
150 Employees
180K-200K Annually
In-Office
3 Locations
10001 Employees
173K-256K Annually

Motorola Solutions Logo Motorola Solutions

Security Engineer

Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Information Technology • Security • Software • Cybersecurity • Big Data Analytics
Hybrid
Los Angeles, CA, USA
23000 Employees
140K-200K Annually

Kodiak Robotics Logo Kodiak Robotics

Senior Systems Engineer

Automotive • Robotics • Software • Transportation
In-Office
Mountain View, CA, USA
81 Employees
155K-200K Annually

Similar Companies Hiring

Apptronik Thumbnail
Software • Robotics • Machine Learning • Hardware • Computer Vision
Austin, TX
180 Employees
Doodle Labs Thumbnail
Wearables • Robotics • Internet of Things • Hardware • Automation • App development • Aerospace
SG
50 Employees
Fairly Even Thumbnail
Hardware • Other • Robotics • Sales • Software • Hospitality
New York, NY
30 Employees

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account