Lead Software Engineer (Embedded & Cloud)

Arcticar; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

401(k) with company match

PTO

Job summary

Arcticar in Oakland, CA, is building an all-electric transport refrigeration platform. We seek a Lead Software Engineer to own the full software stack—from embedded real-time firmware to cloud services and fleet analytics.

You will shape architecture, drive OTA workflows, and guide a small founding team through prototype to production. Ideal candidates bring 8+ years in embedded and cloud software, hands-on leadership, and a track record delivering real products.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software development experience, with embedded and connected cloud applications.
• Experience leading internal and external teams across hardware and software domains.
• Proven track record delivering embedded or IoT products from concept to production.
• Strong Linux and real-time platforms experience with hardware interfaces and OTA capabilities.
• Experience designing cloud-based services, APIs, data management, device provisioning, and fleet connectivity.

Responsibilities

• Own the software architecture across embedded real-time components and cloud services.
• Drive API design, cloud backend, OTA update infrastructure, and provisioning flows.
• Lead the early-stage team through prototype development to production deployment.
• Collaborate with hardware, systems, and product teams to shape the platform.

Skills

Embedded systems

Cloud services

Linux RT

APIs

OTA updates

Firmware development

IoT integration

Tools

CAN

UART

USB

SPI

Bluetooth

Wi‑Fi

GPS

Job description

Lead Software Engineer (Embedded & Cloud)

About Arcticar

Cold-chain logistics consumes more energy than datacenters and is one of the last hard problems in decarbonization and Arcticar is here to solve it. The transport refrigeration units bolted onto today’s reefer trailers run on diesel: loud, dirty, and increasingly out of step with where regulators, fleets, and customers are headed. Arcticar’s all-electric system retrofits onto standard trailer mounts and runs from shore power, NACS, J1772, CCS1, or solar. No diesel. Lower operating costs. Cleaner air.

Arcticar combines advanced energy technology, connected hardware, cloud software, and AI-driven analytics to optimize refrigeration performance, energy usage, and fleet operations, transforming how temperature-controlled goods are transported around the world.

Arcticar is headquartered in Oakland, California, and was co-founded by Jim Castelaz (previously Founder and CEO of Motiv Power Systems), Rene Griemens (a two-decade operator and entrepreneur, previously at Antora Energy, Mighty Buildings, Volocopter, with billions of dollars raised across the companies he’s helped build), and Cat Dela Cruz (previous experience in eMobility branding, marketing and enterprise sales). We’re hiring the founding team that will turn it into the category-defining product in trailer refrigeration. Learn more at arcticar.com.

The Role

As Lead Software Engineer, you'll be a founding member of the Arcticar team, playing a pivotal role in defining the software architecture that powers our electric transport refrigeration systems.

Reporting to the Head of Engineering, you'll be responsible for taking the software platform from concept through production, delivering reliable embedded control, secure cloud connectivity, intuitive user experiences, and robust fleet management capabilities. Working closely with hardware, systems, and product teams, you'll develop the software that enables our first prototypes, supports field pilots, and scales into commercial deployment. You'll make key architectural decisions, determine when to develop capabilities in-house versus leveraging third-party technologies or development partners, and establish the software foundation for future products. AI-enabled development workflows are central to how we operate, and we're looking for someone excited to use modern engineering tools to deliver exceptional products faster and more effectively while remaining deeply hands‑on throughout the product lifecycle.

What You’ll Own

This is a unique opportunity to own automating and controlling the cold chain, and to shape our technology, engineering practices, and product direction from the ground up.

From silicon to the cloud, you will own the design and implementation of software across the entire product stack from embedded Linux and real‑time control to cloud infrastructure, connected services, and user applications.

Embedded Firmware:

• Architecture and implementation of system state machines, fault handling, diagnostics, telemetry, and configuration management.
• Communication interfaces including CAN, UART, USB, SDMMC, SPI, LIN, and related protocols.
• Connectivity integration including Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, cellular modems, and GPS.
• Driver development for power management, sensing, and communication ICs.

Real-Time (RT) Core

• Motor control applications including 3‑phase control, resolver interfaces, and current sensing.
• Hardware control and monitoring via ADCs, timers, GPIO, and signal conditioning/filtering.

Cloud Software Stack:

• Development and implementation ownership of user‑facing web portal and mobile application backend services.
• API development for communication between cloud services, users, and deployed units.
• Firmware update and change management infrastructure (OTA deployment, versioning, rollout control).
• System administration layer including permissions, configuration management, and provisioning
• Database architecture, including schema design, table management, and data modeling.
• Design and maintenance of cloud data storage systems supporting backend services and serverless compute architectures.
• Development and optimization of transactional and analytical data models to support operational workflows and business intelligence.

About You

This role is for a builder. You've developed software for real products that operate in the physical world, and you're excited by the challenge of owning software across the entire connected product stack. You're equally comfortable debugging embedded firmware, designing cloud services, and making architectural decisions that will scale from prototype through production.

• 8+ years of software development experience, with significant hands‑on experience in embedded systems and connected cloud applications.
• Ability to both implement as an individual contributor as well as lead internal and external teams.
• A proven track record of taking embedded or IoT products from concept through prototype, field validation, and commercial deployment.
• Strong experience developing embedded software on Linux and real‑time platforms, including hardware interfaces, communications, diagnostics, and system architecture.
• Experience designing and developing cloud‑based applications and services, including APIs, data management, device provisioning, fleet connectivity, and over‑the‑air (OTA) software updates.
• Demonstrated ability to define software architecture and make pragmatic technical decisions, balancing performance, reliability, maintainability, security, and time‑to‑market.
• Experience working with third‑party software vendors, contractors, or open‑source technologies, with the judgment to determine when to build versus leverage existing solutions.
• Fluency with modern AI‑assisted software development workflows and enthusiasm for using these tools to deliver higher‑quality software with greater speed and efficiency.
• Comfortable in the ambiguity, pace, and hands‑on nature of a founding engineering team. You thrive with broad ownership, communicate clearly, and enjoy solving difficult multidisciplinary problems.

Experience with electric vehicles, commercial vehicles, refrigeration, HVAC, industrial controls, motor control, connected IoT products or equivalent is a plus, but not required. We’re more interested in what you’ve built, how you solve problems, and your ability to deliver exceptional software.

Job Requirements

• Existing U.S. work authorization is a must; Visa sponsorship not provided.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced startup environment with evolving priorities and broad responsibilities.
• We have a strong preference for someone who is willing to work from our office in Oakland, CA, though we will consider exceptional remote candidates.

How We Work

• Ownership. People here own outcomes, not tasks. If something matters and isn’t getting done, it’s yours to fix or to elevate.
• Accountability. We say what we’ll do, by when, and we do it. When we miss, we say so early and we say so honestly.
• Teamwork. We hire teammates, not stars. The best ideas win wherever they come from and we want everyone arguing for the right answer, not for their answer.
• Integrity. We tell our customers, our investors, and each other the truth, even when it’s inconvenient.
• Joy. Building hardware that decarbonizes a hard‑to‑abate sector is genuinely fun work. We take the work seriously and ourselves less so.
• Base salary range $150,000 – $180,000 USD per year.
• Base salary and bonus target reviewed annually against market data for comparable roles at comparable companies.
• Meaningful equity position.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits for employee and family.
• 401(k) plan with company match, rolling out as the company scales.
• Participation in any future Paid Time Off (PTO) plan.

How to Apply

Send a note and your resume (or LinkedIn) to [e-mail]. Tell us what you’ve shipped, what you’d build differently if you could start over, and why this problem matters to you.

Arcticar is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.