Staff Embedded Software Engineer

42dot; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

42dot is seeking a Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer to anchor the core real-time software stack powering its automotive platform. You will drive design across BSPs, drivers, and RTOS, with MISRA C/C++ and ISO 26262 safety practices guiding development.

Based in our Sunnyvale labs, you will lead silicon bring-up, system characterization, timing budgets, and cross-domain debugging to deliver production-grade software for Hyundai SDV platforms.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of embedded software experience delivering production-grade firmware for safety-critical or resource-constrained platforms.
• Expertise in embedded C/C++ with memory models, low-level concurrency, and deterministic execution.
• Deep RTOS knowledge with timing analysis and synchronization primitives.
• Experience with MISRA C/C++ and ISO 26262 safety practices with traceability.
• Hands-on static analysis tooling (Coverity, Polyspace, QAC, or Cppcheck) and rule governance.
• Strong hardware literacy across MCU/SoC architectures and automotive buses (CAN-FD, Ethernet, SPI, I2C).
• Board bring-up leadership using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and bus analyzers.
• Experience in regulated safety frameworks (ISO 26262, IEC 62304, DO-178C).
• Proficiency with Git, Bazel, and automated CI/CD for firmware.

Responsibilities

• Platform Architecture & Firmware Development: design and evolve BSPs, HALs, drivers (GPIO, ADC, PWM, Timers) and high-throughput stacks (CAN-FD, Ethernet/TSN, SPI, I2C).
• RTOS & Concurrency Architecture: optimize RTOS environments, partition tasks, scheduling, IPC, memory isolation, and deterministic budgets across multicore systems.
• Safety Coding & Quality Standards: enforce MISRA C/C++, ISO 26262 practices, static analysis baselines and robust justification workflows.
• Silicon Bring-Up & System Characterization: lead hardware bring-up, timing budgets, interrupt latency analysis, and power budgeting.
• Complex Triage & Root-Cause Analysis: escalate hardware/software interaction bugs using JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes.
• Technical Interface Ownership: collaborate with hardware, systems engineering, and V&V to define ICDs and bring-up tooling.
• Engineering Standards & Mentorship: raise code quality and mentor engineers across the firmware organization.

Skills

Embedded C/C++ mastery

RTOS architecture

MISRA C/C++ compliance

ISO 26262 safety

Static analysis governance

Hardware bring-up

Debugging (JTAG/SWD)

Multi-core systems

CI/CD tooling

Memory/concurrency mastery

Tools

Git

Bazel / modern build systems

Automated testing pipelines

Job description

We are looking for the best

About Us

42dot is a mobility AI company committed to solving mobility challenges with software and AI. As the Global Software Center of Hyundai Motor Group, 42dot pioneers the future of mobility by advancing the development of software-defined vehicles.

We develop safety-first, user-centric software-defined vehicle technologies that deliver the latest performance through continuous updates like smartphones. By advancing software and AI technology, 42dot envisions a world where everything is connected and moves autonomously through a self-managing urban transportation operating system.

About the Role

As a Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer , you will serve as a technical anchor for the core real-time software stack powering 42dot’s next-generation automotive platform. You will drive architectural decisions and implementation across the full embedded spectrum—from low-level board support packages (BSPs), peripheral drivers, and hardware interfaces up to RTOS architecture, deterministic communication protocols, and safety-critical platform logic.

In this role, you will champion high-performance, deterministic C and modern embedded C++ development adhering strictly to MISRA guidelines and ISO 26262 functional safety requirements. You will spearhead hardware bring-up efforts in our Sunnyvale labs, establish system characterization and timing budgets, resolve complex cross-domain issues, and ensure production-grade execution for Hyundai’s SDV platform.

Responsibilities

• Platform Architecture & Firmware Development: Drive the technical design, implementation, and evolution of low-level BSPs, hardware abstraction layers, peripheral drivers (GPIO, ADC, PWM, Timers), and high-throughput communication stacks (CAN-FD, Ethernet/TSN, SPI, I2C).

• RTOS & Concurrency Architecture: Architect and optimize RTOS environments (FreeRTOS, SafeRTOS, AUTOSAR OS), defining task partitioning, scheduling policies, IPC mechanisms, memory isolation, and deterministic execution budgets across multi-core systems.

• Safety Coding & Quality Standards: Enforce rigorous MISRA C/C++ compliance and ISO 26262 safety practices (ASIL-D trajectory); establish static analysis baselines, triage workflows, and sound justification standards for the team.

• Silicon Bring-Up & System Characterization: Lead hardware bring-up for new silicon and custom prototype boards; define methodologies for system characterization, interrupt latency analysis, execution profiling, and power/resource budgeting.

• Complex Triage & Root-Cause Analysis: Serve as an escalation point for elusive hardware/software interaction bugs, timing issues, and race conditions using JTAG/SWD debuggers, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and bus analyzers.

• Technical Interface Ownership: Partner closely with hardware design, systems engineering, and V&V teams to define rigorous Hardware-Software Interface specifications (ICDs) and drive bring-up tooling requirements.

• Engineering Standards & Mentorship: Elevate code quality, design consistency, and review standards across the firmware organization; mentor senior and mid-level engineers.

Qualifications

• Experience: 10+ years of hands-on embedded software engineering experience delivering production-grade firmware for safety-critical or resource-constrained platforms (Automotive, Aerospace, Medical Devices, Industrial Robotics, or Consumer Electronics).

• C/C++ Mastery: Expert proficiency in embedded C and modern embedded C++, with deep knowledge of memory models, low-level concurrency, compiler optimization behaviors, and deterministic execution.

• RTOS Architecture Depth: Proven track record architecting, tuning, and debugging production multi-threaded software on commercial or open-source RTOS platforms, including formal timing analysis and synchronization primitives.

• Static Analysis Governance: Extensive hands-on experience with enterprise static analysis tools (Coverity, Polyspace, QAC, or Cppcheck), including establishing rulesets, resolving complex findings, and managing defensible suppressions.

• Full-Stack Hardware Literacy: Strong architectural understanding of modern MCU/SoC architectures (ARM Cortex-M/R, TriCore, or similar), register-level programming, memory-mapped I/O, and automotive buses (CAN-FD, Ethernet, SPI, I2C).

• Bring-Up Leadership: Demonstrated success leading board bring-up in a hardware lab, utilizing oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and bus analyzers to diagnose board- and silicon-level defects.

• Regulated Safety Track Record: Practical experience developing and delivering software under a regulated safety framework (ISO 26262, IEC 62304, DO-178C) with strict traceability to requirements.

• Modern Build & CI Tooling: Proficiency with Git, Bazel (or modern build systems), and automated CI/CD pipelines for firmware build verification and automated testing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Automotive Stacks & Diagnostics: Deep familiarity with ISO 14229 (UDS), SOME/IP, DoIP, or automotive Ethernet communication stacks.

• Multi-Core & Security: Experience architecting multi-core microcontroller solutions, Hardware Security Modules (HSM), or secure boot implementations.

• Communication Protocol Design: Experience designing, implementing, and validating custom or standardized protocol state machines, serialization layers, and fault-recovery logic.

• Object-Oriented Architecture: Proven ability to apply structured OOP design patterns, clean interface abstractions, and data encapsulation in embedded C++ contexts.

• Automation & Tooling: Proficiency in Python for developing internal bring-up tooling, HIL automation, or custom build/test scripts.

Interview Process

• Application Review - Coding Test - 1st interview - 2nd interview - Offer Negotiation - Hiring

• The screening procedures may vary depending on the position, schedule, or other circumstances.

Compensation

• $210,000 - $320,000

Additional Information

• In accordance with fair hiring practices, do not include any personal information unrelated to your job qualifications (e.g., Social Security Number, family relations, marital status, age, photo, physical condition, place of birth, etc.) in your resume.

• All documents must be submitted in PDF format and under 30MB in size.

• If you experience issues uploading your resume, please send it along with the job posting URL to [e-mail].

• We strongly encourage applications from U.S. veterans and candidates eligible for employment preference under applicable laws.

• Qualified individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

• 42dot does not accept unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees for any such submissions. Equal Opportunity Statement

• 42dot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.

Please review the following information before applying.

• How to work in 42dot, About 42dot Way