Lead, Firmware Engineer

queueinc; Newark (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Early-stage equity

Direct impact — code dispenses meds to

Small team culture

Challenging problems

Job summary

Queue is hiring a seasoned firmware engineering leader to guide embedded software for our autonomous pharmacy robotics platform. You will lead the firmware team, define architecture, and drive development across generations to deliver reliable, scalable systems in a regulated environment.

The role emphasizes hands-on mentorship, establishing CI/CD, reviews, and test automation while partnering with electrical, mechanical, and cloud teams to own release planning and diagnostics.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of firmware or embedded software engineering, with at least 3 years leading a team of firmware engineers.
• Track record of shipping embedded software for complex electromechanical products from prototype through mass production.
• Deep expertise in real-time embedded systems, including RTOS-based and bare-metal architectures.
• Experience balancing speed of development with engineering processes such as code reviews, CI/CD, static analysis, and test automation.
• Ability to recruit, develop, and mentor firmware engineers while maintaining hands-on involvement in architectural decisions.
• Cross-functional partnerships with electrical, mechanical, and cloud/software teams; strong communication.
• Understanding hardware-software boundary, peripheral bring-up, driver development, BSP ownership.

Responsibilities

• Lead the firmware engineering team in developing embedded software for motor control, host coordination, sensor fusion, and system diagnostics.
• Define the firmware architecture, coding standards, and testing frameworks for reliability and maintainability.
• Drive firmware development planning and milestone tracking across firmware, electrical, and mechanical work streams.
• Establish code review, static analysis, and CI practices to uphold quality in a pharmaceutical environment.
• Manage the release process and coordinate thorough release candidate testing with functional test plans.

Skills

Firmware engineering

Embedded software

Team leadership

RTOS / bare-metal

CI/CD

Code reviews

Test automation

Cross-functional collab

HW-SW interface

Tools

Git

Embedded toolchains

Static analysis tools

CI/CD tooling

Job description

About Us

We’re Queue, the world’s first fully autonomous robotic pharmacy. We go from sealed wholesale bottles to filled, verified prescription vials with zero human involvement.

We built Queue because no one should ever have to wait in line for the medicines they need. One in three US pharmacies has shut down. Pharmacists are overworked to a breaking point. And patients are paying the price. Queue fixes that. Pharmacists get to practice pharmacy again — counseling patients, catching interactions, doing the work only they can do. And patients get their prescriptions in 60 seconds or less, any time, anywhere.

We’re backed by over $18 million from Alleycorp, Riot Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures, House Capital, and others who believe the pharmacy system is broken and that robotics can fix it. Queue was founded by Nick Desai (6x founder, previously CEO of Heal) and Joshua Liu (previously Tesla, Waymo, and Zipline).

About the Role

• Lead the firmware engineering team in developing embedded software for motor control, host coordination, sensor fusion, and system diagnostics on our platform
• Define the firmware architecture, coding standards, and testing frameworks that ensure reliable, maintainable, and updatable embedded software across product generations
• Drive firmware development planning and milestone tracking, coordinating deliverables across firmware, electrical, and mechanical work streams
• Establish and enforce code review, static analysis, and continuous integration practices that uphold the quality bar required for a pharmaceutical environment
• Manage the release process, communicate the availability of expected feature sets within the company, and facilitate thorough release candidate testing through functional test plans

Required Qualifications and Experiences

• 10+ years of experience in firmware or embedded software engineering, with at least 3 years leading a team of firmware engineers
• Track record of shipping embedded software for complex electromechanical products from prototype through mass production
• Deep expertise in real‑time embedded systems, including RTOS‑based and bare‑metal architectures, with the ability to set technical direction for the team
• Experience balancing speed of development with establishing engineering processes such as code reviews, CI/CD pipelines, static analysis, and test automation
• Ability to recruit, develop, and mentor firmware engineers while maintaining hands‑on involvement in architectural decisions and critical‑path development
• Previous successful partnerships with electrical, mechanical, and cloud/application software teams via excellent cross‑functional communication skills
• Strong understanding of the hardware‑firmware boundary, including peripheral bring‑up, driver development, and board support package ownership

How We Hire

• Recruiter Screen: (30 min)
• Hiring Manager Interview: (60 min)
• Technical Interview: (60 min)
• Leadership Interview: (60 min)

What We Offer

• Early‑stage equity in automated pharmacy dispensing at scale
• Direct impact — your code dispenses medication to real patients
• Small team, zero bureaucracy, high trust
• Hard problems: distributed systems, safety‑critical software, regulatory compliance, real‑time hardware integration

Compensations & Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Meaningful early‑stage equity
• Health, 401(k), unlimited PTO

Why Join Us Now?

• Impact & Growth
  • Direct Patient Impact: Your code will improve healthcare outcomes for millions of patients
  • Market Leadership: Ground‑floor opportunity to define an entirely new category of healthcare technology
  • Technical Innovation: Work on genuinely novel problems at the intersection of AI, robotics, and healthcare
  • Career Acceleration: High‑visibility role with significant growth potential as the company scales
• Team and Culture
  • World‑Class Team: Work alongside exceptional engineers, AI researchers, and healthcare experts
  • Direct Access: Report directly to the CTO/Co‑founder with significant autonomy and influence
  • Innovation Focus: Culture that prioritizes breakthrough thinking and rapid experimentation
  • Mission‑Driven: Team united around the goal of transforming healthcare through technology

Our Values

• Servant Leadership – Make those around you better
• Do the Hard Things – Healthcare, hardware, and company‑building are all hard. We do them anyway. Convenience for us is life‑changing for those we serve
• Own Your Work – Be accountable. Take pride in your output.
• Default is Now – There’s no better time than today. Default to action. What can we prove, learn, or simplify right now

Contact: If you have any questions, please contact us at [e-mail]