Senior Firmware Engineer

Novanta Inc.; Tennessee; On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental & vision insurance

Retirement benefits

Job summary

Novanta Inc. is seeking a senior embedded firmware engineer to design, implement, and optimize MCU firmware for high-speed sensor technology used in surgical robots, semiconductor equipment, and industrial systems.

You will work closely with hardware, FPGA, and software teams to deliver low-latency, power-efficient firmware with robust validation and testing practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in EE / CE / CS or related field.
• 5+ years firmware experience on MCU platforms.
• Proficient in C for embedded firmware.
• Experience with signal processing and CAN/BiSS/SPI/I2C/UART/Ethernet.
• Able to read schematics and test with oscilloscopes.
• Strong communication and configuration management using GitHub.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain MCU firmware for sensor technology.
• Implement signal processing and control loops in embedded systems.
• Integrate firmware with hardware, FPGA, and software teams.
• Develop test benches and use lab tools for validation.
• Participate in code reviews and documentation.
• Support manufacturing and field debugging.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

MATLAB

C++

Python

GitHub

Jira

Oscilloscopes

Job description

Build a career powered by innovations that matter! At Novanta, our innovations power technology products that are transforming healthcare and advanced manufacturing—improving productivity, enhancing people’s lives and redefining what’s possible. We create for our global customers engineered components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance for a range of mission‑critical applications—from minimally invasive surgery to robotics to 3D metal printing.

Novanta is one global team with over 26 offices located in The Americas, Europe and Asia‑Pacific. Looking for a great place to work? You have found it with a culture that embraces teamwork, collaboration and empowerment. Come explore Novanta.

Job Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated senior-level embedded firmware engineer to join our engineering team focused on developing next‑generation sensor technology. You will play a critical role in designing, implementing, and optimizing embedded software that drives high‑speed, high precision sensor technology used in surgical robots, semiconductor or industrial equipment

Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and maintain firmware code for sensor technology
• Algorithm Implementation: Analyzing, designing, and implementing signal processing and control loops (e.g., Automatic gain control, PID, Gain offset and phase correction) in embedded systems based on existing software models (e.g., MATLAB, C++, or Python models).
• Firmware Development: Designing, implementing, and integrating embedded firmware designs in microcontrollers / MCUs for optimized performance, resource utilization, low latency and power efficiency. Embedded firmware is primarily written in C.
• Implement low-level communication protocols (e.g., CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet, BISS)
• Collaborate with hardware engineers, FPGA engineers, systems engineers, and application software developers to define firmware requirements
• Hardware/Software Integration: Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams (electrical engineers, software engineers, FPGA engineers) to ensure seamless integration of the MCU firmware with the overall system
• Testing and Validation: Developing robust test benches and utilizing lab tools such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers for rigorous testing and validation of designs against functional specifications and performance requirements.
• Participate in code reviews, documentation, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Support manufacturing and field teams with debugging and troubleshooting

Job Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in firmware engineering, focusing on MCU firmware design, development, and testing.
• A bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related advanced degree.
• Demonstrated experience using the C programming language in firmware.
• Demonstrated experience on signal processing (e.g. automatic gain control, PID, gain offset and phase correction) and communication protocols (e.g., CAN, BiSS, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet)
• Familiarity with digital and analog electronics, schematics, and oscilloscopes – able to read electronic schematics to understand peripherals connected to MCU.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent software configuration management capabilities using revision control systems (Github or the like)
• Experience with MS tools (Visio, Excel, Word, etc)
• Demonstrated experience in Agile development methodologies and/or Kanban and associated tools (Atlassian [Jira] or the like)
• Occasional travel, about once or twice a year, may be required to visit trade shows, customer sites, or partnered business units.

Salary Information

• The salary for this role will range from $130,000 to $170,000annually based on full-time employment. Salary offers are based on a wide range of factors including but not limited to location, relevant skills, training, experience, education, etc.
• Certain roles may be eligible for performance-based incentive compensation and/or long-term incentives. Incentives could be discretionary or non-discretionary depending on the plan.
• Novanta supports all aspects of your life’s needs. This positionprovidesa full range of medical, financial, and other benefits to make your quality of life better.

Novanta is proud to be an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action workplace. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, military and veteran status, disability, genetics, or any other category protected by federal law or Novanta policy.

Please call [phone] if you need a disability accommodation for any part of the employment process.