Principal Embedded Software Engineer

Overview

Lead the architecture, development and integration of embedded platforms spanning MCU firmware, RTOS, embedded Linux, platform-management protocols and hardware-backed security, combining system-level technical ownership with hands-on development and debugging.

What you'll do

• Own the software architecture and technical direction for embedded platforms.
• Analyze hardware and requirements documentation, and translate system requirements into software architecture, component boundaries, interface definitions, implementation plans and validation strategies.
• Identify technical risks early and use prototypes to evaluate uncertain design decisions.
• Architect firmware, drivers, subsystems (e.g., security), middleware and applications while ensuring effective hardware-software integration.
• Address initialization dependencies, asynchronous communication, concurrency, resource constraints, fault handling and recovery mechanisms.
• Implement and review complex drivers and middleware, support platform bring-up, and lead root-cause analysis across hardware, firmware, protocols and operating system components.
• Lead engineering quality and technical execution by establishing design review and validation standards, mentoring engineers, guiding work breakdown and delivery planning, and coordinating with cross-functional teams, architects, customers and open-source communities.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
• 10+ years of embedded software experience.
• Demonstrated track record of technical ownership for complex platforms or subsystems.
• Strong hands-on proficiency in C and low-level embedded software development.
• Deep expertise in processor architecture, interrupts, DMA, synchronization, memory protection and hardware-software interactions.
• Substantial expertise in one or more of: Zephyr OS, RTOS-based MCU development, or embedded Linux platform development, with practical experience integrating firmware, drivers, middleware and host-side software.
• Demonstrated implementation or architectural experience in at least one of: firmware development, secure boot, platform security, or specification-driven software development.
• Proven ability to lead complex debugging efforts, conduct architecture and code reviews, mentor engineers, and resolve technical trade-offs while remaining actively involved in implementation.
• Strong communication, technical documentation, planning and cross-functional collaboration skills, with a proven ability to take ambiguous technical challenges from investigation through implementation and validation.

Nice to have

• Experience with Rust.
• Experience with FPGA-based firmware development.
• Upstream open-source contributions.
• Experience developing software for NXP MCUs or MPUs.
• Experience with secure boot, hardware-backed security, trusted firmware, secure firmware updates or recovery systems, including the ability to reason about trust boundaries, failure modes and the security implications of design decisions.