Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer

Metalware helps protect cyber-physical systems in critical industries. We develop advanced firmware analysis and security solutions for industries where failure isn't an option.

We are privileged to work on the most cutting-edge (and sometimes secretive) projects across aerospace, defense, automotive, industrials, energy, telecom, healthcare, and more.

AI is making it easier to ship code; Metalware is making it easier to ship secure code.

We're looking for founding engineers to drive our product development from the ground floor. You won't just optimize existing software, you'll own new features/products to improve and expand our firmware analysis platform.

As a Founding Engineer, you are self-driven, curious, and a quick learner. You have strong problem-solving skills, a positive attitude, and an ownership mentality. You can also wear multiple hats—software, security, DevOps, AI, UI/UX, etc. You may naturally align with one or two of these most of the time, but you can roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty to deliver whatever is necessary to help our customers.

Why you should join Metalware

• You want to work side-by-side with the founders and early team to shape product direction and technical roadmap.
• You prefer the dopamine of working on software that impacts critical systems society relies on, rather than optimizing social media clicks.
• You like to work directly with users/customers to gather user feedback, understand requirements, and ship code quickly.
• You're passionate about developing high-quality software and own every aspect of the development lifecycle: ideation, design, coding, testing, and ongoing support.
• You want to do the best work of your life with people who push you to be better, and you want to help build that team too.

What you'll do

• Engage in the entire product lifecycle from identifying relevant latest research to developing prototypes and building robust and scalable solutions.
• Add support for a variety of CPU architectures, real-time operating systems, and custom hardware interfaces.
• Analyze and reverse-engineer firmware binaries to uncover vulnerabilities and improve detection accuracy.
• Research cutting-edge techniques in binary analysis, symbolic execution, and adversarial testing, contributing to both internal R&D and external security communities.
• Design and implement ML/AI architectures that can interpret binary data, facilitating automated symbolic recovery and analysis of stripped firmware images.
• Gather and incorporate user feedback to continuously improve product features and performance.
• Engage in architecture, design, and code reviews to build robust, scalable solutions.
• Publish and present white papers, conference talks, and technical reports to industry and government communities.
• Further our mission to make it easier to ship safe software.

Minimum qualifications

• You are proficient in Rust, C, or C++, and have meaningful experience (personal or professional) in embedded or systems software development.
• You are skilled in one or more of the following: Software Engineering, Security Engineering, Vulnerability Research, Machine Learning, LLMs, and Computer Architecture.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related discipline OR 3+ years of professional software engineering experience.

Ideal qualifications

• Solid understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, kernels, drivers, networking protocols, and mathematics.
• Experience embedded security, reverse engineering, and tools such as Ghidra, Binary Ninja, or IDA Pro.
• Knowledge of emulator frameworks like QEMU, including Tiny Code Generator (TCG).
• Familiarity with instruction set architectures (ISA) such as ARM, MIPS, and RISC-V.
• Experience with LLMs or traditional AI/ML for pattern recognition and automated reasoning tasks.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity best practices and standards.
• Strong skills in debugging, performance optimization, and testing methodologies.
• Past participation in Capture the Flag competitions (CTFs).

Additional requirements

• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed to meet project deadlines and deliverables.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity package.
• Full health, vision, and dental benefits.
• Optional 401(k) program.
• Opportunities for continuous professional development: trainings, conferences, and access to the world's leading researchers and engineers with whom we collaborate.

About the interview

1. 30-min intro call with Ryan (CEO)
2. 1-hour technical interview with Andrew (CTO) and engineering team
3. 1.5-day onsite interview + work trial at our office in San Francisco

About Metalware

Metalware helps protect cyber-physical systems in critical industries. We develop advanced firmware analysis and security solutions for industries where failure isn't an option.

We are privileged to work on the most cutting-edge (and sometimes secretive) projects across aerospace, defense, automotive, industrials, energy, telecom, healthcare, and more.

AI is making it easier to ship code; Metalware is making it easier to ship secure code.