We are looking for a Senior Embedded Software Engineer with 5+ years of experience to own critical embedded subsystems on autonomous underwater vehicles from blank-sheet design through field deployment. You'll join a fast-moving defense startup building autonomous underwater vehicles for defense applications, vehicles that need to be in the water within months, not years. We need a self-starting engineer who has personally architected, implemented, and shipped embedded systems (not just contributed to a team effort) and thrives in an environment with no formal processes and full end-to-end ownership. You'll focus on one of three areas: Embedded Linux compute, motor-control firmware, or battery-management-system firmware.
What will you be doing?
Serving as the Responsible Engineer for a major embedded subsystem: writing production C/C++ code for deterministic, real-time control of a vehicle operating underwater with strict latency, jitter, and memory constraints.
Building custom embedded Linux images (Buildroot/Yocto) tuned for real-time performance on ARM-based platforms (Nvidia Jetson), or writing bare-metal/FreeRTOS firmware for STM32 microcontrollers controlling motors or battery management systems.
Bringing up brand-new PCBAs from scratch, using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and in-circuit debuggers to resolve timing issues, signal integrity problems, and manufacturing defects alongside your electrical engineering counterpart.
Designing and implementing deterministic Ethernet (UDP) communication protocols, CAN/SPI/I2C interfaces, and telemetry systems that keep the vehicle connected and controllable in the field.
Moving at startup speed to get an MVP embedded system into the water within 3 months, making smart 80% trade-offs, iterating rapidly through design-build-test cycles, and supporting field testing and sea trials.
- 4-7 years of experience in embedded software engineering (C/C++), on Linux or bare-metal/RTOS platforms
- Personally brought up new embedded hardware from scratch through to production: must have individually owned board bring-up, debug, and production resolution
- Background in automotive (EV), aerospace, robotics, or autonomous vehicles, ideally from fast-paced companies like SpaceX, Tesla, Waymo, Rocket Lab, or similar
- Experience at a startup or early-stage company shipping hardware products rapidly
- Deep expertise in at least one: embedded Linux (Buildroot/Yocto, kernel drivers, real-time tuning) OR bare-metal/FreeRTOS motor-control firmware OR BMS firmware
- Strong C/C++ for deterministic, low-level embedded systems: writing performant code with strict latency, jitter, and memory constraints; able to write drivers from datasheets
- Proficient with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and in-circuit debuggers for hardware/software debug
- Self-starting: can take an ambiguous problem and independently drive to an 80% MVP in weeks, not months
- Experience with C/C++, Python, and cloud-based solutions like AWS
- Ability to help build a full telemetry and command-and-control pipeline for remote vehicle data
- BS or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science