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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Senior Staff Edge Applications Engineer (Hardware & Embedded Lab Lead) - **Company:** RENAE'S SALON - **Location:** Columbia, MD, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $139,500.0 - $185,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** 3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, ARM Architecture, C++ (Programming Language), Cloud Computing, Computer Programming, Computer Engineering, Software Debugging, Embedded C, Embedded Software, Firmware, FreeRTOS, Joint Test Action (IEEE Standards), Machine Learning, Real-Time Operating Systems, Signal Processing, Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter, Serial Peripheral Interface, PIC Microcontroller, Large Language Models, Generative AI, Bare Metal, Feature Extraction, Web Api - **Published:** September 6, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerjet.com/job/register/us7f8d07cae03ab36d905dc7b9e227c79a ## About the Role DO NOT APPLY if your background is strictly in Cloud AI, Data Science, Generative AI, LLMs, LangChain, or Web Backend APIs. DO APPLY if you have 7+ years of experience building physical prototype rigs, writing embedded C/C++, running FFTs on raw accelerometer/acoustic data, debugging SPI/I2C signals with an oscilloscope, and running TinyML on bare-metal silicon., * Education: M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical discipline. (BSEE with extensive, demonstrable lab leadership experience will also be evaluated). Career Experience: 7-12+ years of hands-on experience in embedded software, physical hardware prototyping, digital signal processing, and real-time edge computing. Hardware & Lab Skills: Proven expertise in physical system fabrication, 3D printing, electrical assembly, PCB bring-up, and low-level debugging with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD. Embedded Firmware: Strong C/C++ programming for constrained microcontrollers, bare-metal or RTOS (FreeRTOS, Zephyr), DMA buffer management, and low-level drivers (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN). Signal Processing & On-Device ML: Deep understanding of digital signal processing (DSP) for time-series/audio data and practical experience deploying quantized ML models directly onto microcontrollers. ## Description The Renesas AIoT Center of Excellence in Columbia, MD (formerly Reality AI) is seeking a hands-on Senior Staff Edge AI Applications Engineer to lead our physical Edge AI Applications Lab. In this role, you will head our physical lab facility, direct R&D and proof-of-concept (PoC) hardware builds, manage project scheduling, and mentor junior engineers. You will operate at the exact intersection of small-scale physical fabrication, digital signal processing (DSP), C/C++ embedded firmware, and microcontroller-level TinyML deployment. You will lead the end-to-end execution of non-visual sensing solutions - instrumenting physical hardware setups (industrial motors, automotive systems, consumer devices), collecting high-frequency time-series sensor data, building custom DSP pipelines, and optimizing tiny machine learning models to run on Renesas silicon. Are you a Senior Embedded Engineer or Applied Physicist who thrives in a physical lab environment building custom sensor rigs, soldering prototype boards, and squeezing machine learning models onto microcontrollers? ATTENTION APPLICANTS: READ BEFORE APPLYING * This is a physical lab leadership and embedded hardware role., Lab Ownership & Technical Leadership: Manage physical lab facilities, equipment, part procurement, and project scheduling for customer PoCs, internal R&D, and cross-BU hardware integrations. Physical Prototyping & Fabrication: Lead hands-on assembly of prototype rigs, sensor arrays, 3D-printed mounts, and microelectronic setups to capture real-world physical data. High-Frequency Sensor Data Engineering: Instrument physical systems to capture, clean, and preprocess high-frequency time-series datasets (acoustic, vibration, electrical, motor current). DSP & TinyML Deployment: Design DSP feature extraction pipelines (FFTs, spectral analysis, filtering) and deploy optimized, quantized TinyML models onto microcontrollers (ARM Cortex-M, Renesas RA/RX/RL78) using TFLite Micro, CMSIS-NN, or eIQ. Customer & Cross-BU Collaboration: Work directly with customers and internal product teams to ingest raw hardware telemetry, debug edge firmware issues, and demonstrate live hardware solutions. Team Mentorship: Lead, mentor, and guide junior lab engineers in firmware debugging, signal processing, and physical prototype fabrication. Why Join Renesas? No SCIF / No Clearance: Enjoy complex signal processing and hardware challenges without defense contractor bureaucracy or classified workspace restrictions. Commercial Product Impact: What you build in our lab gets integrated into Renesas silicon and deployed into millions of industrial, automotive, and consumer devices globally. Startup Autonomy + Global Backing: Small-team environment (under 50 people in Columbia) backed by one of the world's premier semiconductor manufacturers. ## Related Videos - [Web APIs you might not know about](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/281-web-apis-you-might-not-know-about) - [Playing Pong on a shoulder press machine](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100140-playing-pong-on-a-shoulder-press-machine) - [From Perception to Autonomy: Building Agentic Edge AI Robots with ROS 2](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100295-from-perception-to-autonomy-building-agentic-edge-ai-robots-with-ros-2) - [Project Fugu: Extending the web](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/832-project-fugu-extending-the-web) - [RTX AI PC: Developing local and edge AI applications](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100078-rtx-ai-pc-developing-local-and-edge-ai-applications) - [Agent Smith Gets Hardware: Autonomous IoT Hacking From Debug Port to Cloud API](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100258-agent-smith-gets-hardware-autonomous-iot-hacking-from-debug-port-to-cloud-api) ## Related Articles - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline) - [Is Software Engineering Over-Saturated?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/418-is-software-engineering-over-saturated) - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [Dev Digest 134 - Where pixels sing?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/477-dev-digest-134-where-pixels-sing) - [Where To Find Software Engineering Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/396-where-to-find-software-engineering-jobs)