high-ownership Firmware Engineer

We’re looking for a high-ownership Firmware Engineer to build the critical layer between hardware and software at a fast-growing robotics company developing autonomous robots for industrial automation. This is a foundational hardware hire in a very early-stage environment, and you’ll work directly with the founding hardware team to shape embedded architecture from the ground up.

What you’ll do

• Write low-level C/C++ firmware for motor driver boards and custom robot hardware.
• Implement and tune PID loops and real-time control for motors, actuators, and electromechanical systems.
• Build and maintain the hardware abstraction layer that connects leader arms, follower arms, cameras, and other embedded subsystems.
• Own PCB bring-up, peripheral integration, and hardware debugging across the stack.
• Optimize latency, synchronization, and reliability for real-time embedded systems.
• Collaborate closely with electrical, hardware, and ML teams to ensure clean data flow into downstream AI systems.
• Grow into ownership of embedded firmware for more complex motherboard projects as the company scales, including Nvidia-based systems.

• 4+ years of experience in embedded firmware engineering, ideally with a strong focus on motor control and C/C++.
• Experience in a high-ownership firmware role at a robotics or hardware startup, or senior tenure at companies like Tesla, Apple, Anduril, Zipline, or Neuralink.
• Hands-on experience with motor controllers, actuators, joint-level control loops, or similar real-world embedded control systems.
• Strong background in robotics, autonomous vehicles, or other real-world embedded products.
• Degree in electrical engineering, embedded systems, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
• Strong theoretical foundation in controls, systems thinking, and first-principles engineering.
• Deep technical skills in motor control, PID tuning, RTOS, and bare-metal development.
• Experience with CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, USB, or EtherCAT.
• Ability to debug hardware at the board level using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and schematic review.
• High energy, fast execution, and comfort switching between short-horizon priorities in a startup environment.
• A portfolio or side projects that show hands-on building beyond day-to-day work.

What will stand out

• Clear end-to-end ownership of firmware systems.
• Experience diagnosing motor control issues from system behavior.
• Ability to work directly at the hardware-software boundary.
• Strong embedded judgment in low-latency, high-reliability systems.

Skills: Apple, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation, C Programming Language, C++ Programming Language, Computer Firmware, Computer Maintenance, Control Systems, Data Cleaning, Device Drivers, Electrical Engineering, Electricity, Electromechanical Systems, Embedded Systems, Hardware Debugging, High Reliability, I2C, Identify Issues, Industrial Development, Logic Analyzer, Mechanical Engineering, Motherboards, Motor Control Systems, Oscilloscope, Peripheral Hardware, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Realtime Operating System, Robotics, Schematics, Startup, Systems Reliability, USB, Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART)