Junior Engineer – Firmware, Hardware and QA

Pastorix; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 28,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Real ownership

Hands-on learning

AI tooling

Market-rate salary

8% holiday allowance

25 vacation days

ESOP eligibility

Room to grow

Job summary

Pastorix is seeking a junior engineer to learn fast and grow while supporting hardware, firmware and software teams. You test, measure, debug and fix to own more each month. Office in Amsterdam, strong learning culture, and AI-assisted tools are part of the job.

The role includes testing devices, reproducing issues, automating tests, building fixtures and simulators, and collaborating with co-founders to drive product quality. English required, Spanish a plus.

Qualifications

• Read schematics and use measurement tools (multimeter, oscilloscope, logic analyser).
• Basic programming in C/C++ for microcontrollers and Python for scripts.
• Git basics; structured, methodical work with clear reporting.
• English reporting; curiosity and willingness to learn daily.

Responsibilities

• Prepare, program and test devices and keep records up to date.
• Reproduce hardware/firmware issues with logs, measurements and schematics.
• Test new features before release and add regression test cases.
• Build test fixtures and write test scripts for boards and firmware.
• Help build device/gateway simulators for testing without hardware.
• Make small firmware changes with guidance and own parts over time.
• Find and test new components for BOM.
• Contribute to improvement projects such as smaller boards or protocol changes.
• Check gateways are online and provide remote support during installations.
• Use AI tools daily for scripts, log analysis and test automation.

Skills

Schematic reading

Multimeter

Oscilloscope

Logic analyser

C/C++ for microcontrollers

Python scripts

Git basics

Structured working

Curiosity and drive

Education

Degree in electronics / embedded systems or computer engineering

Tools

KiCad

Job description

We are looking for a junior engineer who wants to learn fast and grow. You start as the extra pair of hands of our hardware, firmware and software engineers: you test, measure, debug and fix. Each month you own more.

Pastorix builds an autonomous grazing platform for large cattle ranches in South America. Our solar-powered GPS eartag keeps each cow inside a virtual fence, so ranchers can move herds without physical fences. The eartag talks to the cloud over LoRaWAN, and farm managers control their herds from a mobile app. Our eartags are on cows in Paraguay today, and we are getting ready for mass production.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Prepare, program and test devices. Keep the device records up to date.
• Reproduce hardware and firmware problems with logs, measurements and schematics. Write down what you find.
• Test each new feature before release. Add good cases to the regression set and automate the stable ones.
• Build test fixtures and write test scripts for boards and firmware.
• Help build device and gateway simulators, so we can test without physical hardware.
• Make small firmware changes with guidance, for example a protocol update. Over time you own parts of the firmware.
• Find and test new components for our bill of materials.
• Help on improvement projects, for example a smaller board or a change in how the eartag communicates.
• Check that gateways are online and give remote support during farm installations.
• Use AI tools every day for scripts, log analysis and test automation.

AFTER 6 MONTHS YOU OWN

• Parts of our firmware.
• The test flow, from testing a single task to the release test report.
• First-line investigation of hardware and firmware failures. You know when to bring in a senior engineer, and you learn from how they fix it.
• The test tools and simulators you built. You keep them documented and in step with the firmware.

WHAT YOU BRING

• A degree, or strong hands‑on experience, in electronics, embedded systems or computer engineering.
• You can read a schematic and use a multimeter, an oscilloscope and a logic analyser. You are not afraid of a soldering iron.
• Basic programming: C or C++ for microcontrollers, and Python for scripts. Basic Git.
• A structured way of working. You test one thing at a time and write short, clear reports in English.
• Curiosity and drive. You try first, ask when you are stuck, and like to pick up new problems.

NICE TO HAVE

• LoRaWAN, BLE, GNSS or Zephyr RTOS experience.
• Low-power or battery-powered devices: you can reason about sleep current and power budgets.
• KiCad or another PCB tool.
• Test automation, or an AI coding assistant in daily use.
• Basic Spanish.

YOU WILL LOVE THIS IF YOU

• Want to see your work on real cows in the field, not only in a lab.
• Like the mix of hardware, firmware, cloud and testing more than one narrow specialism.
• Believe AI changes what one engineer can do.
• Do not mind repeating a test twenty times to find a rare bug.
• Want to learn and grow every day.

NOT FOR YOU IF

• You want a fixed curriculum and weekly assignments.
• You only want to write new code and never test or debug.
• You are sceptical of AI-assisted development.

THE SETUP

LOCATION

Amsterdam office, in the city centre, in a building shared with other startups. Office presence expected.

TYPE

TEAM

Small engineering team across hardware, firmware and software. You work directly with our co‑founders Laurenz (product & technology) and Jeroen (commercial & finance).

TRAVEL

Possible field trips to Paraguay or other South American countries to test products on ranches.

LANGUAGE

English required. Spanish is a plus.

WORK PERMIT

You need the right to work in the Netherlands. We cannot sponsor a visa for this role at the moment.

START

As soon as possible.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Real ownership from day one. You see your work on cows in the field directly.
• Hands‑on learning across firmware, hardware, cloud and testing, side by side with senior engineers.
• AI‑first tooling: coding assistants and our own agents in daily work.
• Market-rate salary, 8% holiday allowance and 25 vacation days per year.
• Eligibility to take part in our employee stock option plan (ESOP).
• Room to grow. We build our team from the ground up and promote from within first.