Senior Embedded Systems Engineer - Real-Time Linux

Sonos, Inc.; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 165,000 - 206,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

401(k) with match

Open Time Off

Sick time

Holidays

Disability insurance

Life Insurance

Pet Insurance

Mental health benefits

Employee discount

Sonos Radio HD

Job summary

Sonos, Inc. is seeking an accomplished embedded firmware/software engineer to design real-time architectures for our audio systems. You will bring up bootloaders, maintain embedded Linux, and drive board bring-up on ARM-based platforms.

You will develop Linux kernel drivers, integrate SDKs, and work with BSPs and HAL layers to enable hardware–software collaboration. A strong background in C/C++, Yocto, and debugging tools is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related field.
• 8+ years of professional experience developing firmware/system software for embedded systems.
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ (Python is a plus).
• Significant experience with embedded Linux, kernel internals, and device driver development.
• Experience bringing up and debugging systems using U-Boot and common boot flows.
• Experience with toolchain and debug tooling (e.g., gcc, binutils, gdb).
• Experience designing and developing software/firmware using Free-RTOS as developing bare-metal applications for microcontrollers.
• Strong debugging capability using tools such as JTAG, logic analyzers, and oscilloscopes.
• Proficiency with Yocto Project / OpenEmbedded workflows.
• Strong understanding of Linux execution contexts and concurrency, including locking/mutexes, SMP behavior, and kernel/user boundaries.
• Familiarity with DDR, NAND, PCIe, Ethernet, USB; SPI, I2C, UART, I2S; TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth/BLE

Responsibilities

• Design and implement real-time system software architectures leveraging SMP and AMP for embedded audio systems.
• Bring up, debug, and maintain bootloader (U-Boot) and embedded Linux across new hardware platforms.
• Lead early board bring-up and debug of new PCBs using ARM SoCs, WiSoCs, BT SoCs, and microcontrollers.
• Develop and maintain Linux kernel drivers across subsystems, interfaces, and peripherals.
• Integrate vendor SDKs, BSP components, and OS modules into the build and release process.
• Develop and maintain HAL libraries enabling clean interfaces between hardware and user space.
• Identify platform gaps relative to hardware capabilities and product requirements; propose improvements.
• Contribute to BSP validation and system-level debugging across HW/SW boundaries.
• Define, execute, and document unit and integration testing for system software components.
• Partner with silicon and component vendors to coordinate support and resolve platform issues across CPU/radio SoCs, MCU/PIC, NPU/GPU, and peripherals.
• Support hardware engineering teams with deep technical debugging and OS/platform modernization efforts.

Skills

C/C++

Embedded Linux

Device drivers

U-Boot

Yocto/OpenEmbedded

Kernel internals

JTAG/oscilloscope

ARM SoCs/WiSoCs

Education

Bachelor's in Computer/EE/CS

Tools

GCC

Binutils

GDB

Yocto/OpenEmbedded

Job description

Sonos, Inc. is seeking an accomplished embedded firmware/software engineer to design real-time architectures for our audio systems. You will bring up bootloaders, maintain embedded Linux, and drive board bring-up on ARM-based platforms.

You will develop Linux kernel drivers, integrate SDKs, and work with BSPs and HAL layers to enable hardware–software collaboration. A strong background in C/C++, Yocto, and debugging tools is essential.