Firmware Engineer II

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Short-term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. in Austin, Texas, is seeking an experienced embedded firmware engineer to design, develop, test, and integrate software for Firefly spacecraft.

You will work with a team of software engineers through all stages of embedded systems development, using C/C++, Linux, and RTOS environments, and collaborating closely with hardware engineers to ensure robust, power-efficient firmware for spaceflight applications.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 3+ years of professional experience in embedded firmware development in Linux environments.
• Experience delivering embedded firmware for bare-metal or RTOS systems (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, etc.).
• Strong programming skills in C/C++ for embedded systems; assembly a plus.
• Experience with I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, USB, Ethernet; debugging with JTAG/SWD.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and test embedded firmware for microcontrollers and microprocessors in bare-metal or RTOS environments.
• Architect and implement low-level drivers and system-level firmware for real-time applications.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers to define architecture and ensure seamless integration.
• Optimize firmware for power, performance, and memory constraints in resource-limited systems.
• Participate in code reviews, maintain high-quality standards, and document firmware designs.
• Contribute to system-level debugging, profiling, and validation of embedded systems.
• Optionally support FPGA integration and firmware interfacing with FPGA designs; explore Yocto/Buildroot projects.

Skills

C/C++ for embedded

Linux

RTOS

CI/CD

Embedded firmware

I2C

SPI

UART

CAN

USB

Ethernet

JTAG/SWD

Yocto/Buildroot

FPGA integration

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field

Tools

Yocto

Buildroot

FPGA

GitLab CI

Job description

At Firefly, we’re focused on making space attainable for everyone - including you! Each team member’s passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there’s no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands-on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

Twenty-five years later, we remember the lives ...

Twenty-five years later, we remember the lives ...

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In this Manufacturing Minute, our Tooling ...

In this Manufacturing Minute, our Tooling ...

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As we head into the holiday weekend, we’re proud ...

As we head into the holiday weekend, we’re proud ...

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What does it take to make a lander space-ready? ...

What does it take to make a lander space-ready? ...

What’s hotter than a Texas summer? Our Miranda ...

What’s hotter than a Texas summer? Our Miranda ...

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Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly's hardworking team reflects Texas' GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We're building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We've achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we're dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Accountability

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

• Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
• 3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
• Mental health services
• Paid military leave

Space for Your Family

• 12 weeks paid maternity leave
• 4 weeks paid spouse leave
• $20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
• Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

• $10k/year towards trade school or college
• Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills
• Employee-ownership with stock bonuses
• 4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
• $10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We're looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

In this role you will help design, develop, test, and integrate the embedded flight software for Firefly spacecraft. You will work in a group of software engineers through all stages of spacecraft software development processes and collaborate with other engineering teams.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Design, develop, and test embedded firmware for microcontrollers and microprocessors in bare-metal or RTOS environments.

Architect and implement low-level drivers, communication protocols (I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, etc.), and system-level firmware for real-time applications.

Collaborate with hardware engineers to define system architecture, debug hardware/firmware interactions, and ensure seamless integration.

Optimize firmware for power efficiency, performance, and memory constraints in resource-limited embedded systems.

Participate in code reviews, maintain high-quality code standards, and document firmware designs and processes.

Contribute to system-level debugging, performance profiling, and validation of embedded systems.

Optionally, support FPGA integration, including firmware interfacing with FPGA designs, or contribute to custom OS builds using tools like Yocto or Buildroot.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.

3+ years of professional experience in embedded firmware development in Linux environments.

Proven track record of delivering real-world industry projects involving embedded firmware developed as bare-metal or RTOS applications (e.g., FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or similar).

Strong programming skills in C/C++ for embedded systems, with experience in assembly language as a plus.

Experience with communication protocols (I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, USB, Ethernet, etc.) and real-time system constraints.

Familiarity with debugging tools (JTAG, SWD, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers) and embedded development environments.

Experience developing C++ applications for embedded systems.

Proficiency in CI/CD workflow development for embedded firmware projects (e.g., Teamcity, GitLab CI, or similar).

Experience with FPGA development, including firmware integration with FPGA designs.

Familiarity with custom OS builds using Yocto, Buildroot, or similar embedded Linux build systems.

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status