Embedded Software Engineering Intern

E-Space

Virginia (MN)

On-site

USD 17,000 - 23,000

Full time

8 days ago

Get more replies from employers

Send a job-specific resume in minutes.

Benefits offered by this job

Paid holidays

Paid time off

Health and wellness care options

Competitive salaries

Continuous learning and development

Financial solutions for the future

Job summary

E-Space is seeking an Embedded Software Engineering Intern to develop firmware for a sensor-rich IoT device. You’ll write production C on Zephyr RTOS, bring up sensors, and move data from the edge to the cloud on real hardware.

You will pair with a mentor daily, own your board and debugger, and ship a feature end-to-end by week two and beyond on live hardware.

Qualifications

Currently pursuing a BS or MS in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
Solid C programming fundamentals: pointers, memory, bit manipulation, and reading datasheets.
Exposure to microcontrollers through coursework, projects, or internships (Arduino/ESP32/STM32/Nordic counted).
Basic Git fluency: branching, commits, and pull requests.
Comfort with the command line and at least one scripting language (Python preferred).
Curiosity and persistence; embedded debugging rewards consistent effort.
Ability to work on-site in Arlington, TX for the duration of the internship.

Responsibilities

Write and debug firmware in C on Zephyr RTOS for Arm Cortex-M MCUs.
Work on sensor integration and sampling pipelines over I2C, SPI, and I2S.
Build, flash, and debug boards daily using West, CMake, SWD/J-Link, and serial consoles.
Contribute to edge-to-cloud connectivity: Wi-Fi, MQTT over TLS, and Thread/BLE.
Help collect and validate sensor datasets for on-device ML models and deploy on hardware.
Write unit and integration tests alongside feature code.
Build and improve bench tooling and automation scripts.
Reproduce and document bugs on real hardware with clear steps.

Skills

C programming

Git

Python

Embedded debugging

Microcontroller exposure

CLI

Education

BS/MS in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science

Tools

West

CMake

SWD/J-Link

Serial consoles

Job description

Ready to make connectivity from space universally accessible, secure and actionable? Then you’ve come to the right place!

E-Space is bridging Earth and space to enable hyper-scaled deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services. We are building a highly-advanced low Earth orbit (LEO) space system that will fundamentally change the design, economics, manufacturing and service deliveryassociated with traditional satellite and terrestrial IoT systems.

We’re intentional, we’re unapologetically curious and we’re 100% committed to innovate space-based communications and deliver actionable intelligence that will expand global economies, protect space and our planet and enhance our overall quality of life.

About the Role

We are looking for an Embedded Software Engineering Intern to work on real firmware for real hardware that ships. You will be embedded (pun intended) with a senior firmware engineer working on a sensor-rich, wireless-connected IoT device: writing production C on Zephyr RTOS, bringing up sensors, debugging on live boards at the bench, and moving data from the edge to the cloud.

This is not a shadow-and-observe internship. You will have your own board, your own debugger, and your own work items from week one. You will pair daily with your mentor — at the whiteboard, at the bench, and in code review — and by the end of the internship you will have shipped at least one feature end-to-end on live hardware.

What you will do:

Hands-on Development

Write and debug firmware in C on Zephyr RTOS for Arm Cortex-M class MCUs.
Work on sensor integration and sampling pipelines — IMUs, accelerometers, microphones, temperature sensors — over I2C, SPI, and I2S.
Build, flash, and debug boards daily using West, CMake, SWD/J-Link, and serial consoles.
Contribute to edge-to-cloud connectivity: Wi-Fi, MQTT over TLS, and low-power wireless protocols such as Thread and BLE.
Help collect and validate sensor datasets that feed on-device machine learning models, and assist with deploying and evaluating those models on target hardware.

Test and Tooling

Write unit and integration tests alongside your feature code — we test what we ship.
Build and improve bench tooling: flash/serial automation scripts, data-capture harnesses, and hardware-in-the-loop test setups.
Reproduce, instrument, and root-cause bugs on real hardware, and document what you find so the next engineer doesn’t hit it twice.

Team Collaboration

Participate in design discussions and code reviews — your code gets reviewed, and you review ours.
Work directly with hardware and systems engineers when the bug turns out not to be in software.
Present your work at the end of the internship: what you built, what you learned, and what you’d do differently.

What we are looking for:

Required

Currently pursuing a BS or MS in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
Solid C programming fundamentals: pointers, memory, bit manipulation, and comfort reading a datasheet.
Exposure to microcontrollers through coursework, projects, clubs, or prior internships (Arduino/ESP32/STM32/Nordic all count).
Basic Git fluency: branching, commits, and pull requests.
Comfort with the command line and at least one scripting language (Python preferred).
Curiosity and persistence. Embedded debugging rewards people who keep pulling the thread.
Ability to work on-site in Arlington, TX for the duration of the internship.

Nice to Have

Coursework or projects involving an RTOS (Zephyr, FreeRTOS) or bare-metal firmware.
Familiarity with communication buses (I2C, SPI, UART) and reading signals on a logic analyzer or oscilloscope.
Exposure to signal processing (FFTs, filtering) or machine learning basics — our devices run inference at the edge.
Experience with networking concepts: sockets, TLS, MQTT/HTTP, or wireless protocols.
A personal project you can talk about in depth — hardware or software.

What success looks like:

In your first two weeks, you will have a working development environment, a board on your desk, and your first merged pull request. By the midpoint, you will own a small feature or tooling improvement end-to-end — design, implementation, tests, and review. By the end of the internship, you will have shipped work running on live hardware in the field or on the bench test rack, and you will be able to explain the full path your data takes from sensor to cloud.

How we work:

On-site, collaborative environment. We build physical hardware — presence matters.
Small teams with high autonomy. Interns get real ownership, scaled to fit.
Fast iteration cycles. We prototype, test, and revise quickly.
Direct feedback culture. We expect candor and respect in equal measure — and we invest in people who want to grow.

Why E-Space is right for you:

As a member of our team, you will play a crucial role in driving our success. Our team members have a strong sense of dedication and responsibility; this includes a strong commitment to our mission to create an entirely new suite of global capabilities to improve lives, business efficiencies and build a smarter planet. This means that there will be times when extra hours, including nights and weekends, may be needed to meet critical deadlines and mission goals. In return, we offer a dynamic work environment with opportunities for professional growth and development and the chance to make a meaningful impact in a high-growth industry.

We want you to make the most of your journey at E-Space. That’s why we support and invest in the physical, emotional and financial well‑being of our team members and their families. Some of what you can expect when working at E-Space: