Sr. to Staff Firmware / Embedded Software Engineer - Delivery Drones

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 to lead ARM-based firmware across robotics products.

You will own bare-metal and RTOS firmware, perform board bring-up, and collaborate with hardware and systems engineers to deliver safe, reliable platforms. This role offers high ownership in a fast-moving environment with a salary range of $180k–$340k plus RSUs, and the flexibility to work from home up to 2 days a week.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or similar.
• At least 5+ 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 and ability to work independently across the full development cycle.
• Experience with RTOS flexibility (FreeRTOS/Zephyr) is a plus.
• Experience working with hardware teams, schematics, and board-level debugging.
• Familiarity with safety-critical systems and fault handling.

Responsibilities

• Leading the development and bring-up of ARM-based microcontroller platforms across robotics products.
• Designing, implementing, and validating firmware for motion control, sensors, communications, power management, and safety-critical functionality.
• Hands-on board bring-up, low-level debugging, and collaboration with electrical and systems engineers.
• Owning 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.
• 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.

Skills

ARM microcontrollers

C/C++ programming

Embedded systems

Bare-metal programming

RTOS

Board bring-up

Sensors integration

Power management

System-level thinking

Debugging

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering

Tools

FreeRTOS

Zephyr

Embedded Linux

Job description

Sr. to Staff Firmware / Embedded Software Engineer - Delivery Drones

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.