Senior Embedded Software Engineer

KO2 Embedded Recruitment Solutions Ltd; Winsford; Remote; GBP 77,000 - 94,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

KO2 Embedded Recruitment Solutions Ltd is seeking a Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer to lead the device software for a cutting-edge energy hardware project. You’ll own low-level firmware challenges across ESP32, RP2040 and STM32, coordinate RTOS tasks and drive reliability in field deployments.

Fully remote in the UK with occasional Cheshire events. The role offers a salary up to £85,000 plus equity and a real chance to shape a novel platform at the edge of the grid.

Qualifications

• Strong embedded C on resource constrained microcontrollers.
• FreeRTOS or comparable RTOS experience.
• Hardware facing debugging with scopes and logic analysers.
• Wireless device experience; ESP32, BLE, WiFi or Thread.
• MQTT, TLS and secure device-to-cloud communication.
• An open mind towards AI assisted development.
• Smart energy, metering, IoT gateway or EV charging background would be a bonus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the build out of the device firmware and own the meaty, low level problems (SPI, timing across processors, memory footprint).
• Set standards, mentor the wider team and influence platform direction.

Skills

Embedded C

RTOS

Hardware debugging

Wireless protocols

MQTT/TLS security

AI-assisted development

Energy/IoT domain knowledge

Job description

Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer

Salary: Up to £85,000 plus equity

Location: Fully remote, UK wide (company events in Cheshire)

This is not one of those roles where you inherit a dusty codebase and a twelve month backlog of bug tickets. It's a genuinely novel piece of engineering in one of the most consequential sectors in the country, and our client is after a proper seasoned firmware engineer to take the technical lead on the device side.

The opportunity

Our client builds intelligent connected hardware for the energy sector: devices at the very edge of the grid that talk to all manner of third party equipment over multiple radios and wired protocols, reporting securely back to the cloud. The engineering team is deliberately small and exceptionally senior, and they've invested heavily in AI driven development pipelines to accelerate the build. They don't want an army; they want a handful of very capable engineers who can steer those tools intelligently and bring the deep hardware understanding no model can replace.

The technology

• ESP32 handling comms: WiFi and BLE now, Thread next, multi radio beyond that
• Multiple RP2040 class microcontrollers running the bulk of the application firmware
• A dedicated processor acting as security firewall and orchestrator
• STM32 class parts, FreeRTOS, embedded C with some C++
• SPI and UART between processors, MQTT with mutual TLS to the cloud, Modbus to third party kit
• A substantial codebase, already around 300,000 linesThe role

You’ll lead the build out of the device firmware, taking ownership of the meaty, low level problems that sort the seasoned from the merely enthusiastic: SPI bus behaviour, timing across processors, tight memory footprints, radio coexistence and field reliability. You’ll set standards, mentor the wider team and have a real say in where the platform goes next.

What you'll bring

• Strong embedded C on resource constrained microcontrollers
• FreeRTOS or comparable RTOS experience
• Real depth in hardware facing debugging with scopes and logic analysers
• Wireless connected device experience; ESP32, BLE, WiFi or Thread
• MQTT, TLS and secure device to cloud communication
• An open mind towards AI assisted development
• Smart energy, metering, IoT gateway or EV charging background would be a bonus

Where and how

Fully remote, work from anywhere in the UK. The team meets periodically in Cheshire for company events and the odd bit of lab work.

The package

£80,000 to £85,000 basic plus genuine equity, coming in at a point where your contribution properly shapes the product.

Roles combining novel architecture, real ownership, top end pay, equity and full remote working don't hang about. If tracking down an intermittent bus fault gives you a quiet thrill, I'd very much like to hear from you.