Senior Embedded Software Engineer - C/C++ & Python

San Diego Stealth Startup; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 146,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

San Diego Stealth Startup in San Diego, CA is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to develop embedded C/C++ and Python orchestration. You will build device drivers, Linux workflows, and multi-component orchestration for a complex instrument, collaborating with hardware and firmware teams.

Strong Linux, Git, and Docker proficiency are required; hands-on hardware experience and clean, well-tested code are highly valued.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or Engineering with 5+ years or MS with 3+ years of professional software engineering experience building production systems
• Strong C/C++ skills, including comfort reading and debugging existing codebases
• 5+ years of Python experience and proven ability to design, build, and ship application-level software
• Hands‑on experience with embedded development — talking to real hardware, working with constrained environments, and dealing with the failure modes that come with both
• Hands‑on experience with application development — services, APIs, user-facing tools, or orchestration software
• Strong Linux skills: comfortable on the command line, debugging system behavior, and working with build toolchains
• Solid git fundamentals and good code hygiene — clear commits, readable diffs, useful tests, careful reviews
• Comfortable with Docker and containerized development and deployment workflows

Responsibilities

• Write production-quality C/C++ for embedded targets and resource-constrained environments
• Build Python applications and services that orchestrate, monitor, and expose instrument behavior
• Develop and maintain device drivers, hardware abstraction layers, and communication interfaces (serial, USB, Ethernet, CAN, SPI, I2C)
• Bridge embedded subsystems and higher-level application logic through clean, well-defined interfaces
• Debug across the stack — from a misbehaving sensor or actuator up to an unhappy application thread
• Design and implement the software that coordinates electrical, fluidic, and mechanical subsystems into a working instrument
• Build state machines and control loops that move the system through complex, multi-step protocols reliably
• Handle the realities of real‑world hardware — timing, failure modes, recovery, calibration, interlocks, and safety
• Define interfaces and contracts between subsystem controllers, the orchestration layer, and the user-facing application
• Instrument the system so that when something goes wrong on a wet bench at 2am, the logs actually tell you why
• Develop and deploy on Linux — both desktop and embedded
• Build and maintain Docker images and containerized workflows for development, testing, and deployment
• Manage build environments, dependencies, and reproducibility across developer machines and target hardware
• Debug system-level issues involving processes, devices, networking, and resource contention
• Write code that other engineers can read, extend, and trust — clear interfaces, sensible abstractions, useful tests
• Use git fluently for branching, review, bisecting, and clean history
• Participate in code review as a thoughtful reviewer and a graceful author
• Build small, sharp tools that make the team faster — not large frameworks that slow them down

Skills

C/C++

Python

Linux

Git

Embedded development

Unit testing

Education

BS in CS/Engineering

MS in CS/Engineering

Tools

Docker

CMake

Make

CAN interface

SPI/I2C

Job description

San Diego Stealth Startup in San Diego, CA is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to develop embedded C/C++ and Python orchestration. You will build device drivers, Linux workflows, and multi-component orchestration for a complex instrument, collaborating with hardware and firmware teams.

Strong Linux, Git, and Docker proficiency are required; hands-on hardware experience and clean, well-tested code are highly valued.