Embedded Firmware Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

About Aquilo 

Aquilo Sports LLC develops therapeutic medical devices for sports recovery and home healthcare. Our current development program is supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) SBIR Phase II award. We work closely with engineers, clinicians, researchers, and manufacturing partners to bring products from concept through clinical evaluation and commercialization. As a small, hands-on company, we offer the chance to contribute directly to both our products and our growth. 

About the Role 

We are seeking an Embedded Firmware Engineer to develop the firmware for our Lower-Extremity Heat Therapy (LEHT), a new medical device now in commercial development. You will be our in-house firmware owner, carrying the code from early requirements through implementation, hardware integration, testing, and release. 

You will work alongside a retained external engineering firm responsible for the system's industrial design, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. You will have a high degree of day-to-day autonomy in our Louisville office, with direct access to senior external engineers for architecture decisions, difficult firmware problems, and hardware integration. We are looking for someone who enjoys hands-on development, takes initiative, and knows when to ask for input. 

What You Will Do 

• Develop and maintain embedded firmware for temperature regulation, pneumatic compression, sensors, user interfaces, and device communications. 
• Contribute to software requirements, architecture, and documented firmware designs, with review from senior external engineers. 
• Collaborate with external engineers on hardware interfaces, board bring-up, debugging, and system integration. 
• Implement treatment sequences, operating states, alarms, fault detection, and safe shutdown behavior. 
• Develop and execute unit and integration tests, including abnormal operating conditions and failure recovery. 
• Maintain source control, issue tracking, reproducible builds, and controlled firmware releases. 
• Prepare software documentation and maintain traceability between requirements, implementation, and testing. 
• Support prototype builds, verification activities, and investigation of issues found during device evaluation. 
• Communicate progress, technical risks, and decisions clearly to the founders and engineering partners. 

Required Qualifications  

• Approximately 2–5 years of embedded firmware development experience. 
• Strong programming skills in C and/or C++ for microcontrollers. 
• Experience developing and debugging firmware on physical hardware, including interrupts, state machines, and common peripherals (I2C, SPI, UART, ADCs, PWM). 
• Experience integrating sensors or actuators. 
• Ability to read schematics and use hardware debuggers, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers. 
• Disciplined habits with version control, structured testing, and technical documentation. 
• Ability to organize your own work, troubleshoot systematically, and collaborate with external engineers. 
• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience. 

Preferred Qualifications  

• Firmware experience on medical devices or other products with safety-critical functions. 
• Familiarity with medical-device software practices, including IEC 62304, requirements traceability, and software risk management. 
• Substantial involvement in an embedded product from early development through testing and release. 
• Experience with temperature or pressure control, pumps, valves, and related sensors. 
• Experience with RTOS development, Bluetooth Low Energy, displays, or device data logging. 
• Experience building scripts or tools for automated testing and data analysis. 
• Effective use of AI-assisted development tools, with the ability to independently review, test, and explain generated code. 

Compensation and Benefits  

• Annual salary: $72,000–$84,000 
• Health and dental insurance: Coverage available. 
• Paid vacation: Three weeks annually. 
• Hybrid flexibility: Remote work when tasks allow, with regular onsite work in Louisville for prototype development, hardware integration, and testing. 
• Professional development: Direct access to senior external engineers for technical guidance and collaboration. 
• Travel: Occasional travel to work with engineering and development partners. 

Why Join Aquilo? 

• Build something with a clear purpose. Your work goes into a medical device intended to support home treatment and improve patients' quality of life. 
• Gain full-lifecycle medical device experience early in your career. Work across firmware, electronics integration, verification, and clinical-development support, with senior engineers to learn from. 
• Work directly with the founders. Have a real voice in product decisions, development priorities, and how we build our engineering capability. 
• Grow with the company. Take on greater technical responsibility as our products and internal team develop. 

Work Authorization  

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. Aquilo is unable to sponsor employment visas now or in the future for this position. 

How to Apply  

Submit your résumé and a brief description of an embedded project you helped develop. Explain your personal responsibilities, the hardware involved, a technical challenge you resolved, and how you tested your work. 

The project description may be included at the end of your résumé or in a cover letter. A brief paragraph is sufficient. Public project links are welcome; please do not submit confidential material from previous employers. 

Aquilo Sports LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.