Staff Firmware Engineer

El Camino Health; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 247,000; Full time

Job summary

iRhythm Technologies, Inc. invites an experienced Staff Firmware Engineer to lead end‑to‑end firmware projects for medical devices in a hybrid San Francisco setting. You will guide architecture, requirements, and verification while mentoring a small team of engineers.

You will shape cybersecurity decisions, ensure reliability for resource‑constrained MCU platforms, and collaborate across hardware, software, and quality teams in a regulated environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of hands-on firmware development experience in resource-constrained embedded systems, preferably MCU-based and bare-metal.
• Experience owning substantial firmware work or projects from architecture through implementation and release.
• Experience working in a regulated industry; medical device experience is preferred.
• Strong proficiency in C for embedded systems.
• Strong experience with board bring-up, lab debugging, and hardware‑firmware integration.
• Knowledge of embedded cybersecurity principles and ability to guide firmware implementation decisions.
• Experience investigating complex system issues and driving root‑cause resolution.
• Attention to detail and sound engineering judgment.
• Experience working cross‑functionally with hardware and software teams in a structured development environment.
• Strong communication, analytical, and problem‑solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Own firmware projects from concept through release, including requirements, scoping, architecture, implementation, integration, and support for verification and release activities.
• Serve as a hands‑on technical leader on a small firmware team, balancing architecture work, development, mentoring, and investigation of complex issues.
• Guide firmware-side cybersecurity decisions in partnership with product security, covering cryptographic design, secure boot/bootloader strategy, key hierarchy and storage, and secure firmware update or FOTA design.
• Develop high‑quality firmware for resource‑constrained, MCU‑based embedded systems with emphasis on reliability, readability, and maintainability.
• Lead deep root‑cause investigations for complex product issues across firmware, hardware, manufacturing, wireless, power, and system interactions.
• Define and evolve firmware interfaces with electrical engineering, manufacturing, backend, system software engineering, software quality assurance, quality, and other stakeholders.
• Contribute to documentation and design control artifacts in compliance with IEC62304, ISO13485, and related development processes.
• Mentor junior engineers through design discussions, code reviews, and day‑to‑day technical guidance.
• Use lab equipment and debugging techniques to bring up hardware, characterize issues, and validate behavior on‑device.

Skills

Embedded firmware development

C for embedded systems

Firmware architecture design

Mentoring

Root-cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Lab debugging

Regulated industry experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/CE/EE or related field

Tools

Zephyr RTOS

Job description

Staff Firmware Engineer – San Francisco, CA

Location: San Francisco, CA (94103) – Hybrid (three days onsite, two days remote, number of days may vary by project).

Role Summary

We are looking for a curious, detail-oriented, and self‑motivated Staff Firmware Engineer to join our small firmware team and help shape the future of our medical devices. In this hands‑on staff‑level role you will own firmware projects end‑to‑end, from requirements, scoping, architecture, and implementation to verification and release, while acting as a technical leader and mentor.

Key Responsibilities

• Own firmware projects from concept through release, including requirements, scoping, architecture, implementation, integration, and support for verification and release activities.
• Serve as a hands‑on technical leader on a small firmware team, balancing architecture work, development, mentoring, and investigation of complex issues.
• Guide firmware‑side cybersecurity decisions in partnership with product security, covering cryptographic design, secure boot/bootloader strategy, key hierarchy and storage, and secure firmware update or FOTA design.
• Develop high‑quality firmware for resource‑constrained, MCU‑based embedded systems with a strong emphasis on reliability, readability, and maintainability.
• Lead deep root‑cause investigations for complex and sometimes rare product issues across firmware, hardware, manufacturing, wireless, power, and system interactions.
• Define and evolve firmware interfaces with electrical engineering, manufacturing, backend, system software engineering, software quality assurance, quality, and other stakeholders.
• Contribute to documentation and design control artifacts in compliance with IEC62304, ISO13485, and related development processes.
• Mentor junior engineers through design discussions, code reviews, and day‑to‑day technical guidance.
• Use lab equipment and hands‑on debugging techniques to bring up hardware, characterize issues, and validate behavior on‑device.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of hands‑on firmware development experience in resource‑constrained embedded systems, preferably MCU‑based and bare‑metal.
• Experience owning substantial firmware work or projects from architecture through implementation and release.
• Experience working in a regulated industry; medical device experience is preferred.
• Strong proficiency in C for embedded systems.
• Strong experience with board bring‑up, lab debugging, and hardware‑firmware integration.
• Knowledge of embedded cybersecurity principles and ability to guide firmware implementation decisions.
• Experience investigating complex system issues and driving root‑cause resolution.
• Attention to detail and sound engineering judgment.
• Experience working cross‑functionally with hardware and software teams in a structured development environment.
• Strong communication, analytical, and problem‑solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with connected, wireless, or battery‑powered embedded devices.
• Familiarity with technologies such as BLE or cellular connectivity.
• Broader familiarity with cybersecurity concepts relevant to connected embedded or medical devices, such as threat modeling and vulnerability response.
• Experience contributing to documentation and design control activities in a regulated environment.
• Familiarity with coding standards such as MISRA and peer code review practices.
• Experience with static and dynamic code analysis techniques for firmware development.
• Experience with version control, release processes, CI/CD, test infrastructure, or other development tooling improvements.
• Experience developing embedded firmware using Zephyr RTOS, including device tree, Kconfig, driver development, and kernel services.

Compensation & Benefits

• Full‑time position with a competitive compensation package.
• Annual estimated pay range: $190,000.00 – $247,000.00.
• Excellent benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance (effective first day), paid holidays, and PTO.

EEO & Accommodation Statement

iRhythm Technologies, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with all applicable laws. We provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures. If you need an accommodation, please contact [e-mail].