Senior / Staff Linux Embedded Engineer

BrightAI Corporation; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

BrightAI Corporation in California is seeking a Senior (or Staff) Embedded Software Engineer to own production wearable systems software, from kernel-level debugging to application tailoring. The role emphasizes deep Embedded Linux experience, C/C++, and Go familiarity, with cross-functional work across firmware and back-end components to ensure platform stability.

Candidates should be comfortable with hardware validation, low-level protocols, and modern CI workflows to maintain high reliability

Qualifications

• 6+ years of hands-on embedded software development with Embedded Linux.
• Strong CS fundamentals with C/C++ and system-level programming.
• Experience with kernel or low-level debugging and hardware interfaces.
• Familiarity with Yocto-based build workflows and device trees.

Responsibilities

• Lead vertical-specific deployments on a Yocto-based Embedded Linux system.
• Assist hardware bring-up and validation using I2C/SPI/UART/GPIO.
• Collaborate across firmware and application layers; enable edge OS isolation with containers.
• Optimize code for multi-processor setups focusing on power and performance.
• Enforce code quality, PR reviews, and CI validation.

Skills

Embedded Linux

C/C++

Go Lang (nice-to-have)

Tools

Yocto Project

GDB

strace

dmesg

Podman

Docker

Git

Job description

We are a high-growth company seeking a versatile Senior (or Staff) Embedded Software Engineer to support vertical‑specific customizations and platform stability for our production wearable systems. This is a hands‑on individual contributor role requiring a generalist capable of navigating system boundaries—from kernel‑level debugging to back‑end logic and application tailoring.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience with Embedded Linux environments and physical hardware validation. While our next‑generation architecture leverages the Go programming language, candidates with strong fundamental computer science and C/C++ backgrounds are highly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

• System Customization: Lead technical alignment and vertical‑specific applications deployment on our production Yocto‑based Embedded Linux distribution.
• Hardware Integration: Support board bring‑up and physical hardware validation using low‑level protocols, ensuring seamless mapping from simulation to actual edge devices.
• System Architecture: Collaborate across firmware and application boundaries, leveraging containerized runtime architectures (Docker/Podman) for Edge OS environment isolation.
• Code Optimization: Debug and resolve multi‑processor resource contentions across execution domains (CPU efficiency cores, DSP, NPU), emphasizing power management and thread execution priority adjustments.
• Process Excellence: Champion strict code quality standards, comprehensive version control processes (Git pull requests, cherry‑picking), and early continuous integration pipeline validation.

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience: 6+ years of hands‑on embedded software development experience, primarily with Embedded Linux distributions.
• Systems Programming: Command of C/C++ with strong computer science fundamentals, runtime architecture optimization, and pointer tracking knowledge.
• Linux Infrastructure: Solid familiarity with embedded build environments (Yocto Project, recipes, device trees) and low‑level system diagnostic tools (GDB, strace, dmesg).
• Hardware Protocols: Direct experience interface debugging with communication topologies, including I2C, SPI, UART, USB, and GPIO.
• Workflow Tooling: Advanced proficiency with Git, team collaboration development flows, and structural code reviews.

Preferred / "Nice-to-Have" Skills

• Go Lang: Prior experience with or conceptual familiarity with the Go programming language (concurrency, dynamic memory footprint tracking). Alternatively, background with Rust or complex multi‑threaded architectures.
• Container Deployments: Exposure to lightweight virtualization constraints and container orchestrations on target edge endpoints (Podman, Docker).
• Power Management: Experience profiling embedded execution workloads, process scheduling manipulation, and low‑power constraint validation.