Staff Engineer - Firmware

Vector Atomic; Pleasanton (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

401(k) contributions

Paid time off

Paid parental leave

Fully stocked kitchen

Job summary

Vector Atomic, located in Pleasanton, CA, is seeking a skilled engineer to provide technical leadership and develop real-time control systems for quantum instruments. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in system architecture and embedded systems, proficient in C/C++ and Rust, and strong communication skills. Benefits include comprehensive health coverage, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) contributions, and paid time off. The salary range is between $150,000 to $180,000 annually, depending on experience.

Qualifications

• 8-12 years of relevant work experience or PhD with 8+ years.
• Ability to work in a laboratory environment.
• Expertise in embedded systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical initiatives and influence engineering decisions.
• Architect and design software systems.
• Mentor engineers through code reviews.

Skills

Leadership in technical initiatives

Excellent communication skills

System architecture

Debugging and troubleshooting

Education

BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related field

Tools

Rust

C/C++

Python

Job description

Vector Atomic, an IonQ company, is building quantum technology to transform navigation, timing, geophysical exploration, and telecommunications. Our team of engineers, scientists, software developers, and operations professionals works together to solve complex challenges and turn bold ideas into real-world solutions. We value collaboration, curiosity, and diverse perspectives, and we give every team member the opportunity to make an immediate impact while growing their skills. If you’re excited to work on breakthrough technology in a fast-paced, hands‑on environment, we’d love to hear from you.

What You'll Do:

• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for real‑time control systems across multiple projects.
• Write production-quality code in C/C++ and establish coding standards and best practices for the team.
• Work with and mentor a cross‑functional team of physicists, electronics engineers, and firmware engineers to create next‑generation quantum instruments.
• Design and architect system controllers on ARM SoC. Lead development of user‑space drivers, data acquisition pipelines, and robust control loops with reliable error handling.
• Define and implement control algorithms essential to operation of precision sensing instruments.
• Architect libraries and frameworks for control of quantum systems that can be reused across projects.
• Lead technical discussions with hardware engineers and drive board testing and hardware bring up strategies.
• Mentor junior and senior engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and technical guidance.
• Drive continuous improvement of our development process, tooling, and infrastructure.
• Represent the team in cross‑functional technical reviews, architecture discussions, and strategic planning sessions.

What We're Looking For:

• Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering/Computer Science Graduate, BS/MS Degree with 8-12 years of related work experience, or PhD with 8+ years of experience.
• To comply with the US export control laws, Vector Atomic employees must be U.S. citizens (born or naturalized), lawful U.S. permanent residents (green card holders), and certain categories of refugees, and asylees.
• Must be comfortable working in a laboratory environment.
• Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and influence engineering decisions across teams.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences, both written and verbal.
• Demonstrated expertise in system architecture and design of complex embedded systems.

Required Expertise:

• Extensive experience in developing production Rust systems, including async runtimes, concurrency patterns, and performance optimization.
• Deep understanding of hardware-software interfaces including TCP, UART, MMAP, and low-level system programming.
• Proven ability to architect and design complex software systems from the ground up.
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills using various tools including debuggers, profilers, and simulation.
• Experience mentoring and leading other engineers in technical growth.

Nice-to-have Expertise:

• Experience in Rust, on bare-metal or embedded Linux.
• Experience in Python, including common scientific libraries and building developer tools.
• Expert-level understanding of control algorithms such as PID, state-space controllers, and adaptive control.
• Design training/expertise with fixed-point algorithms, DSP, and digital filters.
• Extensive experience interfacing with external devices through multiple protocols (TCP, UART, SPI, I2C, etc.).
• Experience in C/C++ and understanding of systems programming across multiple languages.
• Strong background working with SoC/FPGA devices and hardware-software co-design.
• Experience with Linux kernel development and device drivers.
• Comfortable using test and measurement equipment to confirm coding performance. This includes oscilloscopes, function generators and voltmeters.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing frameworks, and development infrastructure.

Benefits:

Vector Atomic values teamwork, open and honest discourse, and work‑life balance. We offer competitive compensation and benefits including:

• Platinum-level family health coverage (medical, dental, vision)
• Health and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Employer 401(k) contributions
• 20 days of paid time off / 11 paid holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Fully stocked kitchen

Pay Range

The approximate base salary range for this position is $150,000 to $180,000 per year. The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity and benefits. It's atypical to be hired at the top end of this range for the role, as actual pay is based on several factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience level.

Vector Atomic is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome applications from all backgrounds regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or any other classification protected by law.

Vector Atomic does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers or HR team.