Embedded Firmware Engineer for Underwater Vehicles

Socket.dev; Bristol (RI); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Vatn Systems in Bristol, RI is seeking an Embedded Firmware Engineer to design and maintain firmware for autonomous underwater vehicles. You will work from bare-metal to embedded Linux, using C, C++, and Go to build reliable software that runs at the edge in harsh maritime conditions.

You will bring up hardware, write drivers, optimize performance and power, and collaborate with hardware, robotics, and autonomy teams.

Qualifications

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 3–5 years of professional embedded software/firmware development experience.
• Strong proficiency in C and C++ for embedded microcontrollers (bare-metal and/or RTOS).
• Hands-on experience developing firmware for STM32 microcontrollers (e.g., STM32CubeMX/HAL, LL drivers, or bare-metal).
• Experience developing on embedded Linux platforms.
• Solid understanding of hardware/software integration and debugging with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD.
• Experience with embedded communication protocols (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet).
• Familiarity with real-time constraints, interrupts, DMA, and memory management.
• Experience writing firmware for power-constrained systems.
• Proficiency with Git.
• Excellent problem-solving and teamwork.
• United States Citizen or Permanent Resident (security clearance).
• Familiarity with cross-compilation/build systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain firmware for embedded microcontrollers (bare-metal and RTOS).
• Develop system-level software and services on embedded Linux boards using Go, C, and C++.
• Bring up new hardware: board bring-up, bootloaders, drivers, and BSPs.
• Implement and debug communication between subsystems over UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet.
• Integrate sensors, actuators, and peripherals; implement real-time control and telemetry paths.
• Optimize firmware for performance, memory footprint, and power.
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and autonomy engineers to meet system requirements.
• Write and maintain unit and integration tests; support hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Participate in code reviews and improve engineering practices.
• Troubleshoot, debug, and upgrade existing firmware, including on-vehicle and field debugging.

Skills

C

C++

Go

Embedded Linux

STM32

RTOS

UART

SPI

I2C

CAN

Ethernet

JTAG/SWD

Git

Power management

Unit tests

Tools

STM32CubeMX/HAL

LL drivers

CMake

Make

Yocto/Buildroot

Job description

Vatn Systems in Bristol, RI is seeking an Embedded Firmware Engineer to design and maintain firmware for autonomous underwater vehicles. You will work from bare-metal to embedded Linux, using C, C++, and Go to build reliable software that runs at the edge in harsh maritime conditions.

You will bring up hardware, write drivers, optimize performance and power, and collaborate with hardware, robotics, and autonomy teams.