Staff Embedded OTA Validation & Tools Engineer

Also, Inc.; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Robust health coverage — medical, agen

One Medical membership

Progyny fertility benefits

Flexible time off

401(k) matching

Job summary

ALSO is seeking a Staff Embedded Validation & Tools Engineer - OTA in Palo Alto, CA to own validation, automation, and operational readiness for firmware and software update delivery across our fleet of embedded devices.

You will design and run validation tests for OTA updates, build scalable testbeds, and automate end-to-end pipelines using Python, shell, and CI tools. Collaboration with Firmware, Release, QA, and Cloud teams is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience validating embedded devices and firmware updates (OTA or similar).
• Strong programming/scripting ability in Python and familiarity with C/C++ for embedded debugging.
• Deep understanding of embedded platforms (embedded Linux and/or RTOS), bootloaders and A/B update models.
• Experience building automated test harnesses and integrating tests into CI pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI).
• Experience with hardware debugging tools and workflows (JTAG/UART, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes).
• Familiarity with OTA networking protocols (HTTP(S), MQTT, CoAP) and wireless tech (Wi‑Fi, cellular, BLE).
• Preferred: cloud OTA platforms, secure update practices, or CAN/LIN and automotive validation.
• Preferred: containerization/virtualization for test environments (Docker, QEMU).

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and execute comprehensive OTA validation plans across device families and release types.
• Build, manage, and scale automated testbeds and harnesses for OTA flows.
• Implement automation for end-to-end OTA pipelines from build signing to rollout and verification.
• Validate update mechanisms including bootloader, update agent, and A/B partitions.
• Test update resilience under intermittent networks, power faults, and other edge cases.
• Define metrics and KPIs and generate release readiness reports.
• Perform root cause analysis on failed updates and coordinate remediation with teams.

Job description

ALSO is seeking a Staff Embedded Validation & Tools Engineer - OTA in Palo Alto, CA to own validation, automation, and operational readiness for firmware and software update delivery across our fleet of embedded devices.

You will design and run validation tests for OTA updates, build scalable testbeds, and automate end-to-end pipelines using Python, shell, and CI tools. Collaboration with Firmware, Release, QA, and Cloud teams is essential.