Staff Embedded Software Engineer - Camera Firmware

Verkada; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare programs

Vision, dental coverage

HSA and FSA

Paid parental leave

Flexible PTO

Wellness programs

Healthy meals provided

Job summary

Verkada in San Mateo, CA is looking for a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to lead the development of brand-new camera categories and maintain the reliability of a global, multi-million device IoT fleet. You will work across Hardware, Product, Backend, and Frontend teams to bring first-generation systems to life.

You will guide firmware architecture from MCUs to Linux edge services, tackle complex system-level challenges, and ensure 24/7 uptime with security-aware, high-performance software.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• 8+ years of professional experience in systems software development for performance and resource-constrained environments.
• 5+ years of experience building software for Linux-based platforms.
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale cross-functional initiatives from concept to production.
• Experience leading initial board bring-up and hardware-software co-design for first-generation embedded devices.
• Hands-on experience with low-level protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, USB) and debugging hardware-software interactions.
• Experience designing, implementing and debugging concurrent/multithreaded firmware services.
• Strong understanding of modern operating systems, computer architecture, and trade-offs between compute, memory, and storage.
• Proficiency in at least one systems programming language: C++ or Golang.
• Familiarity with Bash scripting and Python for tooling and automation.
• Bonus: Linux Kernel development and boot stack experience.
• Bonus: MCU firmware and RTOS/bare-metal/secure boot expertise.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of new camera categories and scale the global firmware fleet.
• Own the firmware roadmap and drive architectural changes across the stack.
• Develop high-performance firmware across bare-metal MCUs, Linux edge services, and secure boot processes.
• Tackle complex system-level challenges including race conditions and memory issues at large scale.
• Balance hardware security, performance, power, and fleet observability trade-offs.
• Collaborate with CV, Streaming, and Storage teams to push edge computing and real-time computer vision.
• Champion reliability and deploy monitoring strategies for a 1.5M-device fleet.

Skills

Embedded systems

C/C++

Linux

Cross-functional leadership

Board bring-up

HW/SW co-design

Concurrency/multithreading

SPI/I2C/UART/USB

Linux kernel awareness

Python/Bash scripting

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering

Tools

Linux

Git

Toolchain/GCC

Job description

Senior Embedded Software Engineer - Camera Firmware

San Mateo, CA United States

Who We Are

Verkada is transforming how organizations protect their people and places with an integrated, privacy-sensitive AI-powered platform that includes solutions for video security, access control, air quality sensors, alarms, intercoms, and visitor management.

We’ve got serious momentum in the market: more than 30,000 customers (including 100+ of the Fortune 500), a $5.8B valuation , more than $1 billion in annualized bookings, and backing from CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Felicis Ventures, Next47 and more. Physical AI is one of the most consequential technology shifts of our time, and Verkada is at the center of it.

You can look at all kinds of communities to see our platform’s impact in the world. It’s the retailer that uses our agentic AI to deter theft before it happens. The warehouse that uses AI-powered alerts to make sure its team is protected on the floor with proper PPE. The school that’s alerted to a threat in real-time and triggers a lockdown in seconds, not minutes. We’re rapidly scaling this impact: today, more than 2 million Verkada devices are deployed across 170+ countries.

About the Role

As a Senior Embedded Software Engineer, you will spearhead the development of brand-new camera categories while driving the continued growth and reliability of our ever-expanding global fleet. This role is a high-impact technical leadership position requiring seamless collaboration across the entire stack—including Hardware, Product, Backend, and Frontend teams—to bring first-generation systems to life. Reporting directly to the Camera Firmware Manager, you will work full-time at our HQ in San Mateo to oversee the technical lifecycle of our newest hardware and ensure the operational excellence of a multi-million device, perpetually online IoT footprint.

What You'll Do

• Unlocking New Markets: Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of entirely new camera categories for untapped market segments. Collaborate directly with Hardware and Product teams during the initial co-design phase, to influence HW selection and feature scoping.
• Architectural Leadership: Own the firmware roadmap and drive the large-scale architectural changes required to support novel features across the entire stack—from low-level MCUs to Linux-based edge services.
• System-Wide Technical Depth: Engineer high-performance features across a diverse software landscape, spanning bare-metal MCU firmware, secure bootloaders, Linux kernel optimizations, and concurrent userspace services.
• Complex Problem Solving: Tackle the most "gnarly" system-level challenges, from non-deterministic race conditions and memory corruption to elusive hardware-software timing issues that only emerge at the scale of a million-device fleet.
• Navigate Multi-Dimensional Trade-offs: Systematically balance conflicting priorities—including hardware security hardening, peak performance, power efficiency, and deep fleet observability
• Cross-Functional Optimization: Partner with CV, Streaming, and Storage teams to architect vertically integrated features that push the boundaries of edge computing and real-time computer vision.
• Operational Excellence at Scale: Champion a reliability-first culture for a global fleet of 1.5 million perpetually online devices, designing the deployment and monitoring strategies that ensure 24/7 uptime.

What You Bring

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• 8+ years of professional experience in systems software development for performance and resource-constrained environments.
• 5+ years of experience building software for Linux-based platforms.
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale, cross-functional initiatives from concept to production. You have a history of aligning diverse engineering verticals to deliver complex systems on aggressive timelines.
• Proven experience leading initial board bring-up and hardware-software co-design for first-generation embedded devices.
• Hands‑on experience with low‑level protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, USB) and the ability to debug complex hardware-software interactions.
• Experience designing, implementing and debugging concurrent/multithreaded firmware services
• Strong understanding of modern operating systems, computer architecture, and trade-offs between compute, memory, and storage.
• Proficient in at least one systems programming language: C++ or Golang.
• Familiarity with Bash scripting and Python for tooling and automation.
• Bonus Qualification: Direct experience withLinux Kernel development, including writing or debugging drivers, managing device trees, or optimizing kernel-space performance.
• Bonus Qualification: Technical depth inMCU firmware and the boot stack, with a focus on RTOS, bare-metal development, or secure boot implementation.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills, with the ability to collaborate across engineering and product teams.

US Employee Benefits

Verkada is committed to fostering a workplace environment that prioritizes the holistic health and wellbeing of our employees and their families by offering comprehensive wellness perks, benefits, and resources. Our benefits and perks programs include, but are not limited to:

• Healthcare programs that can be tailored to meet the personal health and financial well-being needs - Premiums are 100% covered for the employee under at least one plan and 80% for family premiums under all plans
• Nationwide medical, vision and dental coverage
• Health Saving Account (HSA) with annual employer contributions and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) with tax saving options
• Expanded mental health support
• Paid parental leave policy & fertility benefits
• Time off to relax and recharge through our paid holidays, firmwide extended holidays, flexible PTO and personal sick time
• Fertility Stipend
• Wellness/fitness benefits
• Healthy lunches provided daily

Additional Information

• We do sponsor and take over sponsorship of employment visas for this role. If we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa.

Annual Pay Range

At Verkada, we want to attract and retain the best employees, and compensate them in a way that appropriately and fairly values their individual contribution to the company. With that in mind, we carefully consider a number of factors to determine the appropriate starting pay for an employee, including their primary work location and an assessment of a candidate's skills and experience, as well as market demands and internal parity. A Verkada employee may be eligible for additional forms of compensation, depending on their role, including sales incentives, discretionary bonuses, and/or equity in the company in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs)

Below is the annual on-target earnings (OTE) range for full-time employees for this position, comprised of base compensation and commissions (if applicable).

$200,000 - $300,000 USD

As an equal opportunity employer, Verkada is committed to providing employment opportunities to all individuals. All applicants for positions at Verkada will be treated without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.