Embedded Systems Engineer

Brumby; Sydney; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Competitive salary

Job summary

Brumby, founded in 2025, builds autonomous drones for cattle management. We’re hiring an Embedded Systems Engineer to own electronics and firmware across aircraft and docks, from bench power-up to field deployment on cattle stations. You’ll design motherboards, battery packs, integrate the flight controller and Jetson, and tune ArduPilot for long-range autonomy.

Based in Sydney, five days a week. Join a small, highly technical team and help build reliable hardware for real-world use in harsh

Qualifications

• Avionics from design to flight ownership, including power, sensors, and flight controller integration.
• Proven experience with ArduPilot and real aircraft flights.
• Strong embedded firmware experience in C/C++ on STM32.
• Experience integrating onboard compute with flight controllers and aircraft systems.
• Experience designing schematics and PCBs (KiCad).
• Comfortable hardware/firmware debugging on bench and in field.

Responsibilities

• Own the avionics across our aircraft, from power and flight control to onboard compute.
• Build electronics and firmware for the dock to launch, recover, and charge autonomously.
• Configure and extend ArduPilot for long-range autonomous mustering.
• Integrate onboard compute with aircraft so autonomy and vision systems work reliably in flight.
• Build hardware that withstands heat, dust, rain, vibration and remote maintenance.

Skills

Avionics integration

C/C++ embedded

STM32

Flight controller integration

Hardware debugging

Schematic/PCB design

Education

Electrical/Electronic/Mechatronic engineering degree

Tools

KiCad

ArduPilot

Job description

Founded in 2025 by Sam Rogers, who grew up managing 6,000 head on a North Queensland cattle station, Brumby builds autonomous drones that move and monitor cattle across the world’s largest properties. We’re replacing helicopters and motorbikes with drones that herd cattle, count herds, and monitor pasture on their own. Helicopter mustering is expensive, dangerous, and still misses cattle. Our drones launch from a dock, fly the paddock, do the work, and come home.

We went through YC (W26) and raised a seed round from the best investors in the valley. Our team is small and highly technical, and we’re already working with some of the largest ranches in the world. Engineering is based in Sydney, but the work happens everywhere. Expect to write code at a desk, in a truck, and in the dirt. We work hard because our ranchers do.

We have a team of 6 which is growing steadily, including Computer Vision, Robotics, AI Engineers and a Chief of Staff. We are looking to add an Embedded Systems Engineer who will own the electronics and firmware across our aircraft and docks. This is a hands-on role with full ownership of the hardware domain, and you’ll set the bar for how we design, build, and test everything that flies.

The Role

You will own the hardware that keeps Brumby’s drones in the air and brings them home. Every board on the aircraft and every circuit in the dock will pass through your hands, and you will take them from first power-up on the bench to a working system on a cattle station hundreds of kilometres from the nearest town.

On the aircraft, you will design and bring up the motherboard and battery pack board, integrate the flight controller and Jetson, and tune ArduPilot. On the ground, you will build the electronics and firmware that let the dock launch, recover, and charge aircraft daily.

What we're looking for

Must-haves

• You’ve taken avionics from design through to flight, owning power, sensors, and flight controller integration
• Deep experience with ArduPilot and getting real aircraft flying reliably
• Strong embedded firmware experience in C/C++ on STM32
• Experience integrating onboard compute with flight controllers, sensors, and aircraft systems
• Experience designing and reviewing schematics and PCBs, ideally in KiCad
• Comfortable debugging hardware and firmware on the bench and in the field
• A track record of building reliable systems and testing them properly, not just getting them working once
• A degree in electrical, electronic, or mechatronic engineering

Strong advantages

• Experience with telemetry, RF links, video systems, or gimbals
• Experience with Li-ion batteries, BMS, and high-current power systems
• Experience building embedded controllers for real-world machinery and safety-critical I/O
• You’ve worked in a small team building quadcopters, VTOLs, RC aircraft, or similar systems

The Work

• Own the avionics across our aircraft, from power and flight control through to onboard compute
• Build the electronics and firmware that let our docks launch, recover, and charge aircraft autonomously
• Configure and extend ArduPilot for long-range autonomous mustering
• Integrate onboard compute with the aircraft so autonomy and vision systems work reliably in flight
• Build hardware that keeps working through heat, dust, rain, vibration, and long periods with nobody on site to reset it

The Setup

• Based in our Sydney office five days a week
• Regular field deployments to cattle stations (domestic and potentially international)
• Full Australian working rights required
• Work directly with (and report to) the founder
• Competitive salary, meaningful early stage equity