Senior Firmware Engineer, Ground Software

Neros Technologies; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 252,000; Full time

Job summary

Neros Technologies in Torrance, CA is seeking a Senior Firmware Engineer for our Ground Software team. You will build firmware for ground control hardware, spanning microcontrollers and embedded Linux, to ensure low-latency, reliable operator control paths in the field.

You will own end-to-end firmware development from bring-up to production, write tests, and collaborate with hardware, flight software, and test teams to deliver robust control systems for modern unmanned systems.

Qualifications

• Shipped firmware on real hardware in the field.
• Strong C/C++/Rust in resource-constrained environments.
• Real-time firmware experience including interrupts and timing budgets.
• Hands-on board bring-up and hardware debugging with oscilloscopes and analyzers.
• Experience with UART, SPI, I2C, USB, Ethernet in embedded systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain firmware for ground control hardware across microcontroller and embedded Linux targets.
• Own operator input handling, the communication link to the aircraft, and telemetry and video receive on the ground side.
• Own latency and reliability across the operator's control path, from input to transmission.
• Define the ground side of the aircraft-to-ground interface with the flight software team, including behavior when the link degrades.
• Bring up and debug new ground hardware alongside electrical engineering.
• Write unit and integration tests for your firmware, partnering with our test organization on hardware-in-the-loop and field testing.

Skills

C/C++/Rust

Real-time firmware

Board bring-up

Embedded interfaces

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Yocto/Buildroot

Job description

Senior Firmware Engineer, Ground Software

Who we are

Neros is a defense technology company rebuilding America’s drone industrial base. We design and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are tested in combat, iterated at startup speed, and built at massive scale. Our team culture is fast, hands-on, and obsessed with closing the gap between design and deployment.

As drones transform the character of warfare, Neros is delivering the systems the West needs to compete on the modern battlefield and deter the adversaries of democracy. We’re hiring engineers, operators, and builders who want to move fast, take on extreme ownership, and get capability into the hands of warfighters in months, not years.

What you will be doing

Neros builds drones for the modern battlefield. As a Senior Firmware Engineer on our Ground Software team, you will build the firmware that runs on our ground control hardware - the equipment operators hold in the field to fly the aircraft and see what it sees. You'll work across microcontroller and embedded Linux targets, own the latency and reliability of the operator's control path, and take your work from the bench to the field.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain firmware for ground control hardware across microcontroller and embedded Linux targets
• Own operator input handling, the communication link to the aircraft, and telemetry and video receive on the ground side
• Own latency and reliability across the operator's control path, from input to transmission
• Define the ground side of the aircraft-to-ground interface with the flight software team, including behavior when the link degrades
• Bring up and debug new ground hardware alongside electrical engineering
• Write unit and integration tests for your firmware, partnering with our test organization on hardware-in-the-loop and field testing

You should have the following

• Strong embedded C, C++, or Rust in resource-constrained environments — you have shipped firmware that runs on real hardware in the field
• Real-time firmware experience: interrupts, DMA, timing budgets, and the bugs that only show up under load
• Hands‑on board bring‑up and hardware debugging — oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and failures that don't reproduce in a debugger
• Working knowledge of embedded communication interfaces — UART, SPI, I2C, USB, Ethernet
• Track record of taking firmware from first boot to production with light direction
• Test discipline appropriate to firmware that people depend on in the field

Nice to have

• Embedded Linux — building services and device interfaces on an embedded Linux system; Yocto or Buildroot exposure
• Linux networking and IP-based radio or datalink integration
• Video pipelines on embedded hardware — capture, decode, display, latency
• RC radio or ground controller firmware — ExpressLRS, EdgeTX/OpenTX, or similar
• Experience moving a product from a microcontroller to an embedded Linux platform
• You fly — FPV, RC, or drones generally

US Salary Range

$180,000 – $252,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Neros' total compensation package.

We’re an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

As set forth in Neros Technologies’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

Export Compliance:The person hired will have access to information and items controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), and, therefore, must be a "U.S. Person" or otherwise eligible to receive an export license. As defined in the ITAR, a “U.S. Person” includes U.S. citizens, noncitizen U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain other classes of individuals (e.g., asylees/refugees). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.” To assist Neros in assessing its export compliance obligations in relation to your application, please identify which statement best applies to you: * Select...

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A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

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