Embedded Systems Engineer — Firmware & Hardware Bring-Up

MPR Associates; Alexandria (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

MPR Associates, Inc. in Alexandria, VA, is seeking an Embedded System Software Engineer to design and implement firmware for connected embedded platforms, bridging hardware and software in demanding environments.

The role emphasizes low-level programming, real-time constraints, and hardware-software integration, with opportunities to extend into higher-level application development and cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an Engineering discipline.
• 2+ years of software engineering experience.
• Experience building production embedded systems or firmware.
• Understanding of embedded operating systems and bare-metal programming.
• Comfortable working with hardware and debugging tools.
• Strong problem-solving skills for performance and memory optimization.
• Proficiency in C for embedded development preferred.
• Experience with microcontrollers, firmware development, and low-level programming preferred.
• Understanding of embedded constraints, timing requirements, and deterministic behavior preferred.
• Familiarity with hardware interfaces, protocols, and sensor integration preferred.
• Experience with hardware bring-up, schematic reading, and familiarity with design tools like Altium or similar PCB/schematic software preferred.
• Experience with SPI, I2C, UART or similar protocols preferred.
• Willingness to work on high-level software that interfaces with embedded systems preferred.
• Experience or willingness to learn PCB design via Altium preferred.

Responsibilities

• Embedded Systems Development: Design and implement firmware and low-level software for connected embedded platforms and microcontrollers.
• Embedded Control Systems: Develop time-critical software that interfaces with hardware components and sensors.
• Hardware-Software Integration: Work closely with hardware teams to ensure seamless integration between software and physical systems.
• Application Development Support: Extend beyond embedded work to support higher-level applications that interface with your embedded systems.
• Performance Optimization: Ensure embedded performance requirements are met while optimizing for memory and processing constraints.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Work closely with the remainder of the engineering team to implement a solution which fits all needs of the client.

Skills

C programming

Embedded systems

Firmware development

Debugging tools

Hardware interfaces

SPI I2C UART

Problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Altium

Job description

MPR Associates, Inc. in Alexandria, VA, is seeking an Embedded System Software Engineer to design and implement firmware for connected embedded platforms, bridging hardware and software in demanding environments.

The role emphasizes low-level programming, real-time constraints, and hardware-software integration, with opportunities to extend into higher-level application development and cross-functional collaboration.