Advanced Product Development & Integration Engineer - Embedded Systems & Autonomy

RiseMe; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

SPiDRWORX in Salt Lake City is seeking a hands-on Embedded Systems & Autonomy Engineer to join our Advanced Product Development & Integration team developing multi‑domain unmanned systems (UxS) across air, ground, and maritime environments. The role involves bringing up embedded electronics, firmware, and autonomy behaviors to enable reliable field operations.

You will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, RF/datalink, and test teams to integrate vehicle‑control stacks, onboard computers, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, CS or equivalent.
• 2+ years of embedded development on physical hardware (unmanned systems preferred).
• Strong programming in C/C++.
• Experience with ARM Cortex‑M/STM32 or similar microcontrollers and RTOS (FreeRTOS/ChibiOS/NuttX).
• Hands‑on with embedded interfaces (I2C/SPI/UART/CAN/Ethernet).
• Ability to read schematics and debug hardware/software with oscilloscopes/JTAG.
• Proficiency with Git and Linux‑based environments.
• Experience with autonomy/navigation software (state estimation, planning) is a plus.
• Ability to obtain/maintain US government security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Research, embedded architecture, evaluate MCUs, compute platforms, sensors, autopilots, and software frameworks.
• Develop and maintain C/C++ firmware for vehicle controllers and embedded boards; bring up hardware and peripherals.
• Configure and extend vehicle software stacks (Betaflight/ArduPilot/PX4) for multiple platforms; integrate Jetson edge compute with controllers.
• Develop autonomy software for navigation, planning, obstacle avoidance, and mission execution; implement state estimation and sensor fusion.
• Develop software/network interfaces for C2, telemetry, video, and data services over datalinks; troubleshoot latency and connectivity.
• Build hardware‑in‑the‑loop and software‑in‑the‑loop test environments; support bench/field tests and tooling.

Skills

C/C++

ARM Cortex‑M/STM32

RTOS development

Embedded networking

Git & Linux

Debugging hardware/software

Python scripting

Autonomy/navigation basics

Security clearance eligibility

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or CS

Tools

NVIDIA Jetson

FreeRTOS

ChibiOS

NuttX

Git

Linux

Job description

Job Details: Job Location: Red Cat Corporate - Salt Lake City, UT, Position Type: Full Time, Salary Range: Undisclosed, Position Summary SPiDRWORX is looking for a hands‑on Embedded Systems & Autonomy Engineer to join our Advanced Product Development & Integration team developing multi‑domain unmanned systems (UxS) across air, ground, and maritime environments. The team rapidly evaluates emerging technologies, builds new capabilities, and transitions successful concepts toward fielded products for defense customers. In this role, you will work where hardware meets software and where software meets decision‑making: bringing up embedded electronics, developing and modifying firmware, integrating vehicle‑control stacks and onboard computers, and building or integrating the autonomy behaviors, navigation, and mission‑planning software that let unmanned systems operate with reduced human oversight - including in GPS‑denied or communications‑degraded environments. You will work closely with electrical, mechanical, RF/datalink, autonomy, test, and manufacturing engineers and will support bench and field testing across multiple vehicle domains. This role is a strong fit for an engineer who is equally comfortable with a logic analyzer, a code editor, and an autonomy stack; enjoys debugging complex hardware/software interactions; and wants to see their code making real decisions on real vehicles in the field.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Research & Embedded Architecture Evaluate microcontrollers, compute platforms, sensors, autopilots, software frameworks, and partner technologies through hands‑on testing and rapid prototyping. Build proof‑of‑concept integrations to validate new capabilities and customer requirements before full development. Support architecture and trade studies considering compute performance, latency, size, weight, power, cost, software maturity, and integration risk.
• Firmware Development & Hardware Develop and maintain C/C++ firmware for vehicle controllers, payload electronics, motor‑control interfaces, and custom embedded boards. Work in bare‑metal and RTOS environments on microcontrollers such as ARM Cortex‑M/STM32. Bring up new hardware, including power and clock validation, boot configuration, peripheral setup, communications interfaces, and low‑level drivers. Develop and integrate drivers for sensors and peripherals such as IMUs, GNSS/INS, cameras, gimbals, rangefinders, radar, and LiDAR.
• Vehicle Software & Compute Integration Configure, modify, and extend vehicle‑control software such as Betaflight, ArduPilot, and PX4 for FPV, multirotor, fixed‑wing, ground, and maritime platforms. Integrate embedded Linux computers, including NVIDIA Jetson and similar edge‑compute platforms, with vehicle controllers, cameras, sensors, payloads, and autonomy applications. Develop system interfaces using MAVLink, ROS 2, DroneCAN, uORB, or custom messaging and APIs. Integrate third‑party sensors, payloads, and customer‑requested capabilities at the firmware and vehicle‑software layers. Integrate autonomy stacks and behavior‑execution frameworks (e.g., ROS 2 nodes, behavior trees, or custom mission‑planning software) with vehicle controllers and onboard compute.
• Autonomy Software & Behaviors Develop and integrate autonomy software for navigation, path/motion planning, obstacle avoidance, and mission execution across single‑ and multi‑vehicle scenarios. Implement or integrate state estimation and sensor fusion (EKF/UKF, GNSS/INS, visual‑inertial odometry) to support reliable navigation in GPS‑denied or degraded environments. Support multi‑agent/swarm coordination behaviors, including task allocation, formation control, and collaborative mission planning across teamed unmanned systems. Combine classical autonomy techniques with machine‑learning components (e.g., perception, reinforcement learning) to improve robustness and adaptability of vehicle behaviors. Build and maintain simulation and hardware‑in‑the‑loop environments to develop, regression‑test, and verify autonomy behaviors before field deployment. Analyze flight/mission logs to diagnose autonomy failures, tune behavior parameters, and drive continuous improvement of planning and decision‑making software.
• Networking, Video & Datalink Interfaces Develop and integrate software/network interfaces for command and control, telemetry, video, and data services over vehicle datalinks. Troubleshoot latency, packet loss, connectivity, addressing, routing, streaming, and application‑level link behavior. Partner with RF/datalink and electrical engineers on radio integration while owning the embedded software, network, and protocol interfaces.
• Verification, Troubleshooting & Productization Build and maintain hardware‑in‑the‑loop and software‑in‑the‑loop test environments where practical. Support bench, flight, ground, and on‑water testing, including test preparation, log review, data analysis, and post‑test troubleshooting. Debug issues that cross firmware, operating systems, networking, and hardware, particularly failures that appear only under real‑world conditions. Develop Python scripts and engineering tools for testing, log analysis, automation, and manufacturing support. Support firmware releases, configuration control, code/design reviews, manufacturing test tools, customer demonstrations, and field test events.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 2+ years of embedded development experience on physical hardware, preferably for unmanned systems, robotics, aerospace, marine, automotive, or defense applications.
• Strong programming skills in C and C++.
• Experience with ARM Cortex‑M/STM32 or similar microcontrollers and bare‑metal or RTOS development such as FreeRTOS, ChibiOS, NuttX, or equivalent.
• Hands‑on experience with embedded interfaces and networking, including I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, and Ethernet.
• Ability to read schematics and debug hardware/software interfaces using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD tools.
• Proficiency with Git and Linux‑based development environments.
• Strong systems‑level debugging, problem‑solving, and technical communication skills.
• Exposure to autonomy, robotics, or navigation software (e.g., state estimation, path planning, behavior/mission‑execution frameworks), whether through coursework, research, or hands‑on projects.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance, as required by program.

Additional Desired Qualifications

• Experience working in Betaflight, ArduPilot, PX4, or similar vehicle‑control codebases.
• Familiarity with MAVLink, uORB, DroneCAN, and ground‑control software such as QGroundControl or Mission Planner.
• Embedded Linux experience on Jetson or similar platforms, including Yocto, device trees, kernel drivers, and system services.
• Experience with video capture, encoding, and streaming tools such as GStreamer.
• Experience with ROS 2 or integrating autonomy, perception, or computer‑vision software onto vehicle hardware.
• Understanding of vehicle