Senior Firmware Engineer – Embedded Systems

Metalform Ltd; New Zealand; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive remuneration

End-to-end development

Job summary

Metalform Ltd in New Zealand is seeking a Senior Firmware Engineer to design and maintain embedded software for our power wheelchair platform. You will work on real-time control, safety features, and hardware integration with a cross-functional team.

Ideal candidates have a bachelor's in electronics and 6+ years of embedded firmware experience with C/C++, ARM microcontrollers, RTOS, and CAN/CANopen. Join us to contribute from concept through production in a growing, collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Electronics Engineering or related field.
• 6+ years of embedded firmware development with proficiency in C/C++.
• Strong knowledge of microcontroller architectures (ARM Cortex, AVR) and interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, BLE), CAN protocol expertise.
• Experience with RTOS and embedded software design patterns.
• Proven debugging and testing skills, including hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Experience with low-level drivers, bootloaders, and power management in embedded systems.
• Background in mobility or healthcare devices and healthcare-grade reliability is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop, test, and maintain embedded firmware for real-time control and communication.
• Design and tune brushless motor control for mobility.
• Implement healthcare-grade watchdogs, failsafes, and redundancy mechanisms.
• Build robust testing and validation frameworks for safety and certification readiness.
• Interface with sensors, actuators, and communication modules for firmware integration.
• Work closely with hardware and design teams for HW/SW integration.
• Drive adoption of innovative practices to improve firmware reliability and testing.
• Contribute across lifecycle: requirements, prototyping, field testing, certification, production.

Skills

C/C++

Embedded firmware

ARM Cortex

RTOS

CAN Bus

CANopen

JTAG

Oscilloscopes

Protocol analysers

Git

Low-level drivers

Bootloaders

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering

Tools

JTAG debuggers

Oscilloscopes

Protocol analysers

CANopen protocol tools

Job description

Senior Firmware Engineer - Embedded Systems

At Metalform, we are pushing the boundaries of mobility by developing our next generation of power wheelchairs, combining cutting-edge control systems, advanced safety, and healthcare-grade reliability. To bring this vision to life, we are building a cross-functional team of senior firmware engineers who will collaborate in an agile environment, each bringing unique expertise while contributing across all areas of development.

This is your opportunity to design technology that makes a real impact on people's lives while working with a highly skilled team of mechatronic, electronic and design engineers.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, test, and maintain embedded firmware for our products, focusing on real-time control, communication, and system stability.
• Design and fine-tune brushless motor control for smooth, safe, and reliable mobility.
• Implement healthcare-grade watchdogs, fail-safes, and redundancy mechanisms to meet medical-level reliability standards.
• Build and run robust testing and validation frameworks to ensure safety, compliance, and certification readiness.
• Interface with hardware components including sensors, actuators, and communication modules, to integrate them into the firmware.
• Work closely with hardware and design teams to ensure seamless hardware-software integration.
• Drive the adoption of innovative practices and methodologies to enhance firmware reliability and accelerate the testing and validation process.
• Contribute across the full lifecycle: requirements, prototyping, field testing, certification, and production.

We are looking for engineers with complementary strengths

• Motor Control Specialist – deep knowledge of BLDC tuning, motor drivers, and real-time performance optimization (ESC or similar experience a plus).
• Safety & Reliability Specialist – strong experience in healthcare, automotive, or industrial firmware with a focus on watchdogs, failsafes, and functional safety.
• Testing & Validation Specialist – experience in embedded test frameworks, healthcare/medical-grade validation, and compliance methodologies.

Experience and skills considered essential for this role*:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Electronics Engineering, or related fields.
• 6+ years of experience in embedded firmware development with proficiency in C/C++.
• Solid understanding of microcontroller architectures (e.g., ARM Cortex, AVR) and peripheral interfaces (e.g., UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, BLE), with specific expertise in CAN Bus communication and protocol implementation. Previous experience implementing CANopen is highly advantageous.
• Strong experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS) and embedded software design patterns.
• Strong skills in debugging, testing, and ensuring the robustness of firmware through hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing.
• Solid understanding of embedded communication protocols, device drivers and power management in embedded systems.
• Strong experience with tools such as JTAG debuggers, oscilloscopes and protocol analysers for system validation and debugging.
• Experience with version control tools like Git for collaborative development.
• Experience with functional safety standards.
• Experience with low-level driver development and bootloaders.
• Strong experience with mobility or healthcare devices.

In return Metalform offer our employees the following

• A chance to build technology that changes lives.
• Career development in a growing team with a strong focus on innovation.
• A friendly, fun, and innovative culture. Our culture is something we are really proud of.
• Competitive remuneration.
• The opportunity to work end-to-end, from concept to production, on products made in New Zealand and shipped worldwide.

Join Metalform. Build something great.

Every day we are building amazing products. But that is just one part of the story.

At Metalform we are building something great. We are a company and team of people collaborating to bring future products to life.

For 60 years Metalform has been family owned and today we still retain a culture that invites collaboration, transparency and challenges the status quo.

Now, with over 100 people working on a diverse range of innovative products we occupy a sweet spot in the New Zealand manufacturing landscape. We offer a complete concept to reality production line providing our staff with opportunities to learn new skills, develop their careers and to be a part of building something great.

We are a New Zealand company taking New Zealand Made products to the world.

We'd love for you to join us.

The position is a full time Monday to Friday 8 am-5 pm. Occasional weekend work may be required.