Firmware Engineer

Fellow; United States; On-site; USD 58,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee equity plan

Generous PTO

401k with company contribution

Medical/dental/vision insurance

Wellness credits

Fitness stipend

Summer Fridays

Parental leave

Product discount

Best coffee

Job summary

Fellow in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, China, seeks a Firmware Engineer to design, develop, and maintain factory firmware, drivers, and UI firmware for our IoT platform. This hands-on role covers end-to-end production code, from device drivers through factory bring-up.

The ideal candidate has strong embedded skills, can work across time zones with US teams, and will support automated tests, toolchains, and documentation to improve engineering quality and release readiness.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of embedded firmware development experience.
• Strong C/C++ and Python skills.
• Production experience with RTOS-based systems, preferably FreeRTOS.
• Experience with STM32 or comparable microcontrollers.
• Strong peripheral-driver experience (I2C, SPI, UART, ADC/DAC).
• Experience designing state machines, concurrency controls, synchronization, and fault-handling behavior.
• Strong hardware-debugging skills with schematics, datasheets, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD.
• Experience maintaining mature codebases and delivering fixes safely.
• Experience bringing a new embedded product through integration, validation, and production release.
• Proficiency with Git, pull-requests, code-review, and embedded-toolchain practices.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, CS, or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Continuous Improvement: refine firmware codebase and reliability.
• Issue Resolution: diagnose field and production failures and implement fixes.
• New-Device Development: drive requirements to implementation through release.
• Embedded Systems: develop device connectivity, control, UI/UX, and drivers.
• Engineering Systems: assist tests, tooling, and documentation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: work with US and China teams including manufacturing.
• Engineering Quality: participate in code reviews and improve practices.
• Secondary Support: assist factory firmware, diagnostics, and ODMs.

Skills

C/C++

Python

RTOS/FreeRTOS

STM32

Peripheral drivers

Git/Code review

Hardware debugging

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or CS

Tools

Git

CI/build system

Embedded toolchain

Job description

About Fellow

At Fellow, we’re on a mission to help people brew ridiculously good coffee at home. But we’re more than just beautifully designed kettles and grinders—we’re a brand built on innovation, community, and culture. We believe great coffee isn’t just about the final cup; it’s about the experience, the ritual, and the people who make it all happen.

We’re looking for a Firmware Engineer in China to design, develop, and maintain robust factory firmware, driver, and UI firmware for our IoT platform.

This role is based in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, China and is required to support Firmware development as well as onsite factory bring-up and test activity in Guangdong areas and other locations required by the Company.

Who You Are

Fellow is looking for a Firmware Engineer in China to design, develop, and maintain robust factory firmware, driver, and UI firmware for our IoT platform. A successful candidate will possess strong embedded engineering fundamentals paired with hands-on experience maintaining and evolving a production firmware codebase end to end — from driver-level development through factory bring-up and release support. This is a rare opportunity to own core firmware responsibilities for physical products used in kitchens around the world.

You will be responsible for the development, maintenance, and optimization of our firmware code base and toolchain, and will serve as the connective tissue between our factory manufacturing schedule and firmware release cadence. You bring strong technical judgement, a high engineering bar, and the hands-on debugging instincts to resolve field, production, and integration issues. We are looking for someone who can work independently while remaining agile and collaborative across time zones. You'll support automated tests, development tools, and documentation to drive the effectiveness and efficiency of our engineering team.

This is a hands-on technical role. You'll maintain and improve our firmware codebase, and you'll also support onsite factory bring-up and test activity yourself.

What You’ll Do

• Continuous Improvement: Continuously improve the existing firmware codebase through maintenance, refactoring, defect resolution, and reliability improvements.
• Issue Resolution: Investigate field, production, and integration issues; identify root causes and deliver validated fixes.
• New-Device Development: Support new-device development from requirements and architecture through implementation, integration, validation, and release.
• Embedded Systems: Develop embedded software for device connectivity, control systems, UI/UX, peripheral drivers, and product features.
• Engineering Systems: Assist automated tests, development tools, and technical documentation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with US firmware, hardware, mobile, backend, product, QA, and manufacturing teams.
• Engineering Quality: Participate in code reviews and improve shared engineering practices and firmware quality.
• Secondary Support: Support factory firmware, manufacturing debugging, factory data collection, legacy-device escalations, and ODM partners as a secondary responsibility.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of embedded firmware development experience.
• Strong C/C++ and Python skills.
• Production experience with RTOS-based systems, preferably FreeRTOS.
• Experience with STM32 or comparable microcontrollers.
• Strong peripheral-driver experience, including I2C, SPI, UART, ADC/DAC, interrupts, timers, and DMA.
• Experience designing state machines, concurrency controls, synchronization, and fault-handling behavior.
• Strong hardware-debugging skills using schematics, datasheets, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD tools.
• Experience maintaining mature codebases, diagnosing complex defects, and safely delivering fixes.
• Experience supporting a new embedded product through integration, validation, and production release.
• Strong Git, pull-request, code-review, build-system, and embedded-toolchain practices.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or equivalent practical experience.
• Ability to collaborate across China and US time zones and support work in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Guangdong manufacturing locations when needed.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with ESP32, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, device provisioning, or mobile-device communication.
• Experience with embedded UI frameworks and displays.
• Familiarity with PID control, sensors, motors, heaters, and other electromechanical systems.
• Consumer electronics, appliance, or connected-device experience.
• Experience with automated firmware testing, simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, or QEMU.
• Experience with secure boot, OTA updates, device security, and release management.
• Experience supporting factory firmware, production diagnostics, manufacturing analytics, legacy devices, or ODM partners.
• Familiarity with certification and compliance requirements for connected consumer products.

Why You’ll Love This Role

• A creative, fast-moving environment where ideas turn into action.
• Competitive compensation including employee equity plan
• Generous paid time off plan
• 401k with company contribution after 6 months of employment
• Medical/dental/vision insurance
• Better Yourself Wellness credit & Better Your Community donation matching
• Monthly Fitness Stipend
• Summer Fridays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Generous discount on Fellow products
• Best coffee anywhere

The salary range for this position is 35,000 - 45,000 RMB (monthly) plus bonus & equity. We intentionally publish salary ranges to promote transparency and set clear expectations. Final compensation is determined based on a number of factors, including relevant experience, skills, expertise, scope of previous work, demonstrated impact, and internal equity. As a result, not every candidate will be hired at the top of the range.

Our highest goal at Fellow is creating a safe, inclusive, and rewarding environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and thrive. We are committed to building diverse teams and strongly encourage people from underrepresented groups, including but not limited to women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply.

Fellow is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.