Founding Engineer – Firmware & Backend for AI Wearables

MaxIT Consulting - Max Corporate Group; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

MaxIT Consulting - Max Corporate Group is seeking a Firmware & Backend Engineer – AI Wearables & Edge Systems to work at the intersection of wearable hardware, firmware, cloud systems and real-time AI infrastructure. The role emphasizes hands-on firmware or embedded systems experience, with work across device firmware, Linux/RTOS, and backend data pipelines.

The position is fully on-site in the San Francisco Bay Area, based in Burlingame and later in San Francisco, with collaboration across

Qualifications

• Hands-on firmware or embedded systems experience.
• Experience with embedded Linux, RTOS, device SDKs, or comparable low-level systems.
• Strong backend or systems engineering fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with wearable-device firmware and hardware platforms.
• Flash, configure, adapt, and integrate vendor firmware and device software.
• Work with embedded Linux, RTOS environments, and/or device SDKs.
• Evaluate camera, sensor, compute, battery, thermal, and latency requirements.
• Contribute to hardware specifications and technical discussions with external manufacturing partners.
• Develop backend infrastructure supporting real-time multimodal data pipelines.
• Work close to the system layer using C, C++, or Rust where appropriate.
• Own components across device, backend, and cloud infrastructure.

Skills

Firmware

Embedded systems

C/C++

Rust

Embedded Linux

RTOS

Device SDKs

Backend engineering

Hardware debugging

System integration

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/EE

Tools

Embedded Linux

RTOS

Device SDKs

Job description

SF Bay Area, California | Fully On-site

We are seeking an Firmware & Backend Engineer – AI Wearables & Edge Systems to work at the intersection of wearable hardware, firmware, cloud systems, and real-time AI infrastructure.

The Opportunity

This role sits closest to the physical device and requires genuine firmware experience combined with strong systems and backend engineering capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Work directly with wearable-device firmware and hardware platforms.
• Flash, configure, adapt, and integrate vendor firmware and device software.
• Work with embedded Linux, RTOS environments, and/or device SDKs.
• Evaluate camera, sensor, compute, battery, thermal, and latency requirements.
• Contribute to hardware specifications and technical discussions with external manufacturing partners.
• Develop backend infrastructure supporting real-time multimodal data pipelines.
• Work close to the system layer using technologies such as C, C++, or Rust where appropriate.
• Own components across device, backend, and cloud infrastructure.

Required Qualifications

• Approximately 1 to 4 years of relevant engineering experience, with flexibility for exceptional candidates.
• Hands-on firmware or embedded systems experience.
• Experience with embedded Linux, RTOS, device SDKs, or comparable low-level systems.
• Strong backend or systems engineering fundamentals.
• Comfort working close to hardware and debugging across software and device boundaries.
• Experience shipping production systems in fast-moving engineering environments.

Candidate Profile

Relevant backgrounds include robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, wearables, industrial devices, defense technology, embedded systems, and other hardware-constrained environments.

Work Arrangement

The role is fully in person in the San Francisco Bay Area, initially in Burlingame and later in San Francisco.

Work Authorization

Candidates must be able to work in the United States. Certain visa sponsorship and transfer scenarios are available for candidates already in the United States. New petitions processed from abroad are not currently supported.