Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer — Avionics & UAS

Firestorm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 178,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vis

401(k) Retirement Savings Plan

Equity grants

Unlimited PTO

Holiday calendar and parental leave

Lifestyle Spending Account

FSA

Job summary

Firestorm Labs is seeking an experienced Firmware Engineer focused on embedded platforms to advance avionics and flight‑critical firmware for our next‑gen UAS. You will collaborate with cross‑functional teams to ensure performance, reliability, and mission readiness.

This hands‑on role requires building BSPs, porting RTOSes, developing drivers for I2C/SPI/UART, and implementing secure boot and fault‑tolerant designs, with MISRA C compliance and thorough testing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Electrical, Systems, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• At least 5 years of experience in embedded systems development.
• U.S. Citizenship due to ITAR & ability to obtain DoD clearance.
• Strong networking knowledge (Ethernet, TCP/IP, VPNs, VLANs, wireless).
• Proficient with Linux and Windows, strong CLI skills.
• Experience in Python, Bash, Shell, and C/C++ for embedded development.
• Proficient troubleshooting across embedded software, avionics hardware, RF.
• Knowledge of virtualization/container tools (VMware, Docker, Kubernetes).
• Awareness of cybersecurity principles as they apply to embedded systems.
• Strong technical writing skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize low-level embedded software in C++, for avionics and subsystems.
• Port frameworks to new RTOSes and hardware; create BSPs and HALs.
• Create peripheral drivers for I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, and wireless.
• Collaborate with hardware teams to validate firmware with secure boot, watchdogs.
• Conduct unit and integration testing including fault injection and MISRA C checks.
• Diagnose cross-domain issues across electromechanical, software, networking, RF.
• Develop test scripts and integration tools using Python, C/C++, Bash.
• Translate requirements into technical specs and integration plans.
• Design and document test plans, guides, reports, troubleshooting manuals.
• Collaborate with teams to accelerate deployment cycles.

Skills

Embedded systems

C/C++

Python

Bash/Shell

Linux

MISRA C

RTOS

Security

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Electrical, Systems, Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

VMware

Job description

Firestorm Labs is seeking an experienced Firmware Engineer focused on embedded platforms to advance avionics and flight‑critical firmware for our next‑gen UAS. You will collaborate with cross‑functional teams to ensure performance, reliability, and mission readiness.

This hands‑on role requires building BSPs, porting RTOSes, developing drivers for I2C/SPI/UART, and implementing secure boot and fault‑tolerant designs, with MISRA C compliance and thorough testing.