Firmware Engineering Manager - Embedded Systems Lead

Linuxconfig; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

FORT Robotics in Philadelphia is seeking a Firmware Engineering Manager who will own the firmware group end-to-end, mixing hands-on embedded work with leadership. You'll work on safety-critical firmware, bring up new hardware, and guide the team through development cycles.

The role combines hands-on engineering with strategic planning: ensure CI/CD pipelines, define definitions of done, and coordinate with product, hardware, cloud, and systems to keep firmware coherent.

Qualifications

• Solid embedded expertise across C/C++, RTOS, and Embedded Linux with hardware bring-up and low-level debugging.
• Experience owning firmware CI/CD, and IP networking, with Python for automation.
• Strong technical judgment and management capability for end-to-end team ownership.
• Typically 6+ years of embedded software and at least 2 years leading engineers; BS in relevant fields.
• Nice to have: background in functional safety or regulated industries (medical, automotive, aerospace).

Responsibilities

• Hands-on: write and review production C/C++ for safety-critical embedded devices through implementation, test, and release.
• Develop real-time firmware for RTOS targets (Zephyr/FreeRTOS) and Embedded Linux applications.
• Bring up new hardware, debug with JTAG, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers; optimize targets.
• Maintain and improve firmware CI/CD pipelines and test automation; ensure hardware-in-the-loop coverage.
• Lead Agile Scrum: backlogs, ceremonies, estimation, forecasting; manage team health and performance.

Skills

C/C++

RTOS

Embedded Linux

Hardware bring-up

Low-level debugging

IP networking

Python for automation

Firmware CI/CD

Education

B.S. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent

Job description

FORT Robotics in Philadelphia is seeking a Firmware Engineering Manager who will own the firmware group end-to-end, mixing hands-on embedded work with leadership. You'll work on safety-critical firmware, bring up new hardware, and guide the team through development cycles.

The role combines hands-on engineering with strategic planning: ensure CI/CD pipelines, define definitions of done, and coordinate with product, hardware, cloud, and systems to keep firmware coherent.