Senior/Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer - Special Programs, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories; New Mexico; On-site; USD 118,000 - 236,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Affordable housing

Minimal traffic congestion

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories is seeking a Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer to own the full lifecycle of defense-grade firmware from customer requirements through architecture, firmware development, and qualification. The role emphasizes C/C++, Rust, and real-time embedded systems with hands-on debugging and hardware bring-up.

You will collaborate across hardware, software, and test teams, develop verification plans, and mentor junior engineers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline required.
• 5+ years of directly relevant experience or equivalent combination.
• Ability to obtain a DOE Q clearance.
• Experience in embedded firmware development for real-time systems.

Responsibilities

• Refine mission needs into system and firmware requirements with customers.
• Lead firmware architecture and low-level driver development in C, C++, Rust.
• Support board bring-up and debugging with hardware teams.

Skills

C/C++

Rust

Embedded systems

Firmware development

Real-time systems

Linux debugging

Software architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

Tools

CI/CD tooling

GCC/clang

Job description

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Senior/Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer - Special Programs, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide

Extraordinary co-workers

Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world

Career advancement and enrichment opportunities

Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)

Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

We are seeking an experienced Embedded Systems Firmware Engineer to own the full product lifecycle for mission-critical defense systems from customer requirements through architecture, firmware development, hardware bring-up, qualification, and acceptance testing. The right candidate brings deep firmware skills, hands-on electronics troubleshooting, modern software engineering discipline, and ideally experience with Embedded Rust. This role supports both Special Projects and Nuclear Deterrence mission sets.

Key Responsibilities:

Engage customers and stakeholders to refine mission needs into system and firmware requirements

Lead firmware architecture and low-level driver development in C, C++, and Rust

Support board bring-up and hands-on debug: read schematics, isolate hardware design defects, and work with hardware designers on fixes

Define and execute verification plans (unit, integration, environmental, qualification, acceptance)

Apply DevOps-inspired practices: automated unit testing, CI workflows, containerized build/test environments

Develop reproducible, secure development workflows for restricted/classified or air-gapped networks

Produce and maintain requirements docs, interface definitions, design descriptions, test plans, and reports

Mentor junior engineers and lead technical discussions across systems, hardware, software, and test teams

What You’ll Bring

Broad technical judgment from requirements through delivered capability

Ease moving between customer discussions and hands-on debug of immature hardware

Discipline in software quality, reproducibility, and maintainability

Ability to adapt modern development methods to mission-driven, security-constrained environments

Technical leadership and mentorship in a multidisciplinary setting

Due to the nature of this work the selected applicant will need to work onsite.

Salary Range:

$117,500 - $235,700

*Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

Qualifications We Require:

A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.¿

Ability to obtain a DOE Q clearance

Qualifications We Desire:

The ideal R&D S&E Computer Engineering candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

Graduate degree in Computer Engineering or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).

Demonstrated ability to execute and deliver technical work products with application of appropriate rigor and pedigree documentation (design/code reviews, technical oversight/approvals, project team concurrence, artifact generation, etc.).

Experience in computer systems design and software development for real-time and embedded processing systems, distributed processing systems, or real-time client server implementations.

Familiarity with hardware/software requirements generation for verification, validation and qualification.

Demonstrated interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multidisciplinary, multi-disciplinary team setting for a common purpose.

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

Demonstrated software development skills and familiarity with modern software development practices and tools (e.g., Agile).

Bachelors in EE, CE, CS, or related STEM field, plus significant relevant experience (advanced degree preferred)

Extensive embedded firmware development in C/C++ on microcontrollers, SoCs, or custom hardware

Proven track record across the full lifecycle: requirements derivation, architecture, implementation, integration, verification, qualification, and acceptance

Familiarity with modern SW engineering practices: unit testing, version control, automated builds/tests, containers

Excellent communicator capable of working with customers, systems engineers, hw/sw designers, and test teams

Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

Advanced degree in a relevant STEM field

Active U.S. security clearance

Experience in defense/aerospace or other high-consequence engineering environments

Rust expertise for embedded systems (e.g., no-std, RTIC, embedded-hal)¿strongly desired

Experience with RTOS, bare-metal, or embedded Linux development

Experience with communication buses (SPI, I²C, UART, CAN, Ethernet, PCIe, etc.)

Background in qualification test regimes (thermal, vibration, EMI/EMC)

Familiarity with model-based engineering, formal requirements management, and traceability tools

Experience deploying agentic or AI-assisted development workflows on restricted or air-gapped networks

Knowledge of trusted systems, embedded cybersecurity, or software assurance

Understanding of modern cryptographic principles, algorithms, and secure key management

Working knowledge of federal cyber and national security compliance requirements (e.g., STIGs, CNSSPs, and similar policies)

Experience with formal hardware qualification processes such as diamond stamping and NSA certification

About Our Team:

The Weapons and Force Protection center provides technologies and systems for protecting U.S. nuclear weapons and materials by creating reliable and fail‑safe systems throughout the world. Our goal is to counter emerging threats and resolve unique security challenges through high‑consequence automation, autonomy, and robotics.

Department 06564 collaborates across Sandia and the U.S. government to provide surety solutions at the intersection of nuclear weapon surety and physical security. The departments technologies are used throughout the weapons complex both CONUS and OCONUS.

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Security Clearance:

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre‑employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q‑level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug‑releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on‑site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

• Affordable housing, reasonable cost of living
• Minimal traffic congestion compared to larger cities