Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Alicat Scientific; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Alicat Scientific in Tucson designs high-performance flow and pressure instrumentation and firmware, enabling full concept-to-production visibility at our integrated facility. You will develop robust embedded software, build control systems, and implement drivers for sensors and communication protocols.

Join a collaborative team that values ownership, rapid decisions, and real hardware bring-up. This role combines firmware development with system-level thinking in a dynamic product environment

Qualifications

• 6-10 years of embedded software development in C on resource-constrained microcontrollers.
• BS in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field is valued – but demonstrated experience matters more.
• Strong grounding in real-time systems: interrupt-driven design, memory management, deterministic timing, and RTOS-based or well-structured bare-metal architectures.
• Track record of owning embedded software modules from design through production release.
• Hardware bring-up and debugging experience at the electrical interface level.
• Proficiency with embedded toolchains (debuggers, cross-compilers, build systems, Git), automated testing, and static analysis.
• Experience developing with AI-assisted tools (code assistants, AI-supported testing and review) is desired.
• Experience with embedded Linux or Python tooling is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement embedded software in C for our flow and pressure instruments.
• Develop control systems, including PID loops, filtering algorithms and calibration routines.
• Implement hardware abstraction layers and drivers for ADCs, DACs, timers, PWM, DMA, EEPROM/Flash, and sensor interfaces.
• Design and maintain communication stacks over UART, SPI, I2C, USB, RS232/RS485, and CAN, including Modbus, CANopen, EtherNet/IP, and IO-Link.
• Develop bootloaders, firmware update strategies, device configuration, diagnostic, and logging services.
• Debug at the register and hardware level using JTAG/SWD, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers.
• Expand automated unit, integration, and hardware-in-the-loop testing; strengthen CI/CD.
• Support manufacturing test integration and field diagnostics.
• Contribute to system architecture and design across firmware, electrical, and application software.
• Participate in new product development planning and design reviews.
• Help improve coding standards, code review practices, and release workflows.
• Help translate product and application requirements into workable technical scope with Product Management and Applications Engineering.

Skills

Embedded C

RTOS

Real-time systems

Hardware bring-up

Debugging

CI/CD

AI-assisted tooling

Python

Education

BS in Computer/Electrical Engineering or CS

Tools

GCC cross-compiler

GDB

JTAG/SWD

Git

CI/CD pipelines

Linux

Embedded Linux

Job description

At Alicat, engineers design hardware and firmware that are built, tested, and manufactured under one roof at our Tucson, Arizona facility. This vertical integration gives you full visibility from concept through production and immediate impact on real products.

We build high-performance flow and pressure instrumentation for aerospace, bioprocessing, energy, environmental science, and advanced research - applications where precision, stability, and reliability are essential.

Our engineering environment is collaborative: we avoid bureaucracy, make decisions quickly, and value engineers who take ownership of real technical problems. Alicat is part of Halma plc, a global FTSE 100 group - long-term stability with the agility of a mid-sized engineering team.

Job Summary

You will write robust, deterministic code that controls sensors, valves, and communication interfaces: real-time control algorithms, signal processing, and protocol stacks that interact closely with precision analog circuitry and production calibration processes.

You will also build above the driver layer - the device-side application logic, configuration

services, and diagnostic interfaces that define instrument behavior in customer systems.

You will work closely with Electrical, Mechanical, Software, and Test Engineering from early hardware bring-up through validation, production release, and long-term support.

Technical Functions

• Design and implement embedded software in C for our flow and pressure instruments.
• Develop control systems, including PID loops, filtering algorithms and calibration routines.
• Implement hardware abstraction layers and drivers for ADCs, DACs, timers, PWM, DMA, EEPROM/Flash, and sensor interfaces.
• Design and maintain communication stacks over UART, SPI, I²C, USB, RS232/RS485, and CAN, including industrial protocols such as Modbus, CANopen, EtherNet/IP, and IO-Link.
• Develop bootloaders, firmware update strategies, device configuration, diagnostic, and logging services.
• Debug at the register and hardware level using JTAG/SWD, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers, working with Electrical Engineering during hardware bring-up.
• Expand automated unit, integration, and hardware-in-the-loop testing; strengthen CI/CD.
• Support manufacturing test integration and field diagnostics.
• Contribute to system architecture and design across firmware, electrical, and application software.
• Participate in new product development planning and design reviews.
• Help improve coding standards, code review practices, and release workflows.
• Help translate product and application requirements into workable technical scope with Product Management and Applications Engineering.

Qualifications

• 6-10 years of embedded software development experience in C on resource-constrained microcontrollers.
• BS in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field is valued - but demonstrated experience matters more.
• Strong grounding in real-time systems: interrupt-driven design, memory management, deterministic timing, and RTOS-based or well-structured bare-metal architectures.
• Track record of owning embedded software modules from design through production release.
• Hardware bring-up and debugging experience at the electrical interface level.
• Proficiency with embedded toolchains (debuggers, cross-compilers, build systems, Git), automated testing, and static analysis.
• Experience developing with AI-assisted tools (code assistants, AI-supported testing and review) is desired.
• Experience with embedded Linux or Python tooling is a plus.