Director of Firmware Engineering, Cameras (San Mateo)

Who We AreVerkada 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 RoleThe Cameras team is the cornerstone of Verkada's product ecosystem. We are looking for a Director of Firmware Engineering to lead the embedded software organization behind our flagship camera line. In this role, you will oversee multiple specialized firmware groups, driving the development of highly reliable, performant, and secure firmware deployed to hundreds of thousands of devices worldwide.You will manage and mentor a team of engineering managers and senior individual contributors, partnering closely with Hardware, Cloud, Product, and QA teams to define the roadmap and deliver cutting-edge edge-computing and imaging capabilities.What You’ll DoPartner on New Product Development (NPI): Work side-by-side with the Hardware and Electrical Engineering teams from the conceptual phase through mass production. You will co-design system architectures, evaluate new silicon (SoCs, sensors), provide early firmware requirements for board designs, and ensure seamless hardware-software integration for our next generation of cameras.Oversee Core Camera Firmware: the group responsible for the foundation of our camera OS. This includes driving new hardware bring-up, porting vendor SDKs, developing low-level drivers, and managing robust Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware update mechanisms.Oversee Camera Imaging Systems: the team dedicated to maximizing image quality. They guide efforts in Image Signal Processor (ISP) tuning, sensor integration, and optimizing the end-to-end imaging and video encoding pipeline.Drive Firmware Delivery & Quality: Champion the group responsible for deploying new firmware releases at a massive scale. You will oversee the development of release tooling, refine deployment processes, establish CI/CD best practices, and closely monitor fleet health metrics to ensure exceptional reliability.Scale and Mentor the Team: Recruit, hire, and mentor exceptional firmware engineers and engineering managers. Foster a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and cross-functional collaboration.What You BringBS or MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.8+ years of hands-on embedded software or firmware engineering experience, with a proven track record of shipping high-volume consumer or enterprise hardware products.4+ years of engineering management experience, including experience managing other managers and leading organizations of 15+ engineers.Technical expertise with Linux and C for embedded systems.Experience with ISP tuning and image processing pipelines is highly preferred.Strong understanding of modern software delivery practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and fleet-wide release management.Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical decisions into business impact for executive stakeholders.Prefer familiarity with modern camera architectures, and camera SoCs (e.g., Ambarella, Qualcomm, or similar).US Employee BenefitsVerkada 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 plansNationwide medical, vision and dental coverageHealth Saving Account (HSA) with annual employer contributions and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) with tax saving optionsExpanded mental health supportPaid parental leave policy & fertility benefitsTime off to relax and recharge through our paid holidays, firmwide extended holidays, flexible PTO and personal sick timeProfessional development stipendFertility StipendWellness/fitness benefitsHealthy lunches provided dailyCommuter benefitsAdditional InformationWe 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 RangeAt 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).Estimated Annual Pay Range$250,000—$350,000 USDVerkada Is An Equal Opportunity EmployerAs 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.Your application will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.