Sr. to Staff Firmware / Embedded Software Engineer - Autonomous Robotics

Skyrocket Ventures; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 340,000; Full time

Job summary

Skyrocket Ventures in San Francisco is seeking a Sr. to Staff Firmware / Embedded Software Engineer for autonomous robotics. You will own low-level firmware across ARM Cortex-M platforms powering compact delivery drones.

Responsibilities include design, implementation and validation of firmware for motion control, sensors, power management and safety-critical features. You’ll perform board bring-up, debugging, and cross-disciplinary work with hardware and systems engineers; expect a hybrid work

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering or similar.
• 5+ years of embedded systems development experience.
• Deep expertise in bare-metal ARM microcontrollers, C/C++.
• Experience with hardware bring-up and debugging on custom boards.
• Understanding of I2C, SPI, UART, CAN and embedded peripherals.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and bring-up of ARM-based microcontroller platforms for robotics.
• Design, implement and validate firmware for motion control, sensors, and power management.
• Hands-on board bring-up, low-level debugging, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
• Own firmware bring-up and integration for new embedded platforms (ARM Cortex-M).
• Develop and maintain bare-metal and RTOS firmware for robotic subsystems.
• Write robust, well-documented C/C++ code and collaborate with hardware teams.

Skills

Embedded systems

ARM microcontrollers

C/C++ development

Hardware bring-up

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Tools

Bare-metal programming

RTOS (FreeRTOS/Zephyr)

Embedded Linux

Schematic reading / board bring-up

Job description

Sr. to Staff Firmware / Embedded Software Engineer - Autonomous Robotics

San Francisco, CA (you can work from home up to 2x/week)

The team builds small, lightweight autonomous delivery drones with safety-first hardware designed to operate around people and everyday urban infrastructure. The work has a positive impact on the sustainability, access, and cost of everyday necessities.

You would be joining an elite group of about 60 people and 20 engineers inside a much larger public company. This org operates as a small, fast-moving hardware innovation lab: minimal bureaucracy, real build/test cycles, and ownership of systems that ship and operate at a very large scale.

The company has a compensation range based on experience, with salary of $180k-$340k, plus RSUs translating into total first year compensation of $300k-800k.

Job Responsibilities:

• Leading the development and bring-up of ARM-based microcontroller platforms across our robotics products. This is a high-ownership role, directly responsible for building the low-level firmware that powers our platforms
• Designing, implementing, and validating firmware for motion control, sensor integration, communications, power management, and safety-critical functionality.
• This role comes with a strong expectation of hands-on board bring-up, low-level debugging, and cross-disciplinary collaboration with electrical and systems engineers.
• Owning the firmware bring-up and integration for new embedded platforms (e.g. ARM Cortex-M series).
• Developing and maintaining bare-metal firmware and RTOS-based applications for robotic subsystems (motor control, sensors, telemetry, power systems).
• Writing and maintaining robust, maintainable, and well-documented C/C++ code for embedded targets.
• Collaborating with the electrical engineering team on hardware bring-up, schematic review, and system integration.
• Leading system bringup, validation, and debug
• Contributing to firmware safety, reliability, and system-level robustness.

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or similar.
• At least 5 (preferably more) years of hands-on experience in embedded systems development.
• Deep expertise in bare-metal programming on ARM microcontrollers.
• Expertise with C, and proficiency with C++ for embedded targets and firmware design patterns.
• Experience with hardware bring-up and low-level debugging on custom boards.
• Understanding of digital electronics, buses (I2C, SPI, UART, CAN), and embedded peripherals.
• Strong system-level thinking, with an ability to work independently and take ownership across the full development cycle.

Nice to have:

• Experience with RTOS (e.g., FreeRTOS, Zephyr) or Embedded Linux on constrained systems.
• Familiarity with motor control, power systems, or battery management in robotics or automotive contexts.
• Experience working closely with hardware teams, reading schematics, and performing board-level debug.
• Familiarity with safety-critical systems, watchdogs, and fault handling.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, high-ownership engineering environments like those found in startups or advanced R&D teams.

This opportunity is with one of our client companies for a full-time permanent hire. Please only apply if you are authorized to work in the U.S.