Salary: $170,000 – $260,000 + Equity
About the Role
A fast-growing, venture-backed technology company in the advanced hardware and energy infrastructure space is seeking a Principal Embedded Software Engineer to define and lead the architecture of its embedded firmware platform.
This is a high-impact leadership role focused on transforming a promising prototype into a robust, production-ready system deployed in real-world environments. You’ll play a central role in shaping the technical direction of embedded systems powering next-generation hardware solutions.
What You’ll Do
- Evaluate the current embedded platform and define a roadmap from prototype to production-ready firmware
- Own the long-term architecture across embedded systems, including RTOS, HAL, bootloaders, and device infrastructure
- Lead and mentor a small team of embedded engineers, establishing best practices and driving technical excellence
- Design and implement OTA firmware update systems and fleet management infrastructure
- Act as the primary technical escalation point for embedded systems, resolving issues and ensuring system reliability
- Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure stable, scalable deployments in the field
Key Requirements
- 8+ years of experience in embedded firmware development
- Expert-level proficiency in C/C++ and deep experience with RTOS or near bare-metal environments
- Proven experience architecting embedded systems from prototype through to production across shipped products
- Experience managing firmware for connected device fleets, including OTA updates and fault-tolerant systems
- Prior technical leadership experience, including mentoring engineers and owning architectural decisions
- Strong systems-level thinking with the ability to design end-to-end product architectures
Technical Environment
Embedded C/C++, RTOS (e.g. FreeRTOS, Zephyr), bootloaders, communication protocols (SPI, CAN, serial buses), hardware debugging tools (oscilloscope, logic analyzer, JTAG), CI/CD, hardware-in-the-loop testing, secure boot, OTA updates, FPGA integration
Additional Details
- Experience Level: 8 years plus
- Work Model: 5 days per week on-site
- Location: Sunset District, San Francisco, CA
- Compensation: $170K – $260K base salary (depending on experience) + competitive equity
- Visa: Transfer of existing visa supported (no new sponsorships)
