Senior Firmware Partner Engineer I

Join Axon and be a Force for Good.

At Axon, we're on a mission to Protect Life. We're explorers, pursuing society's most critical safety and justice issues with our ecosystem of devices and cloud software. Like our products, we work better together. We connect with candor and care, seeking out diverse perspectives from our customers, communities and each other.

Life at Axon is fast-paced, challenging and meaningful. Here, you'll take ownership and drive real change. Constantly grow as you work hard for a mission that matters at a company where you matter.

Your Impact

As a mission-driven company, Axon is in the exciting position of having identified an abundance of opportunities to Protect Life, and Accelerate Justice for both our customers and the public more broadly. Therefore, we are leveraging Joint Development Manufacturers (JDMs) and other partners to scale our growth and deliver more products, faster, helping to save lives. In this high-visibility, leadership/technical hybrid role, you will lead the technical direction for our firmware development partners, and contribute to ensuring the partners' success in scaling Axon's development efforts.

As a Sr. Partner Engineer I, your leadership will span Axon and our partners. On the Axon side, you will be responsible for ensuring the Axon requirements to partners are technically rigorous, clear, and specific, and account for the needs of all adjacent stakeholders in Firmware (FW) success (e.g. hardware, application software). On the partner side, you will ensure that their FW deliverables integrate well into the broader Axon FW ecosystem, and meet Axon's high bar for quality and security. From a technical contribution perspective, you'll be responsible for getting JDM programs "across the finish line" by providing the occasional technical "glue" to meld Axon and JDM flows and subsystems. As products go to production, you will work with teams to ensure device provisioning and flashing methods are secure, and that sufficient runtime logging and monitoring metrics are in place to diagnose issues in-field.

This role will focus primarily on the development of 1-2 brand new IoT products focused on Axon's goal to protect life. It is a hybridization of a (a) Firmware Engineer, (b) Technical Project Manager, (c) Product Manager. Some may see this role as a "Field Application Engineer (FAE)" or "Forward Deployed Engineer", but in reverse - primarily helping our vendors to be successful in their contributions to Axon. This critical role sits in the Axon Platform Firmware Team and reports to the Partner Engineering Manager. The role will "connect the dots" to ensure that the Axon Platform Firmware mechanisms and expectations are reflected through the JDM vendors.

Firmware development environments primarily include a combination of Embedded Linux and custom Automated Test Systems (ATS).
What You'll Do

Location: Seattle, Boston or Scottsdale, Tuesday through Friday in the office
Travel: Travel about 20% to APAC, Scottsdale, Boston, Seattle, and/or Europe
Reports to: Engineering Manager, Partner Engineering
Direct Reports: None

• Manage Axon and JDM vendor relations between Firmware Engineering Teams to align short-term, long-term requirements ensuring that the JDM vendor is building the "right thing"
• Treat JDM deliverables as a product in and of themselves, ensuring Axon requirements for that product are clear, thorough, and achievable
• Oversee JDM engagements from planning, vendor selection, execution, and launch
• Ensure that all source code written by JDMs for Board Support Package (BSP) layers is of the highest quality bar before being merged into Axon's mainline
• Write code as needed to get JDM programs "across the finish line"
• Audit the needs and artifacts of adjacent teams (e.g. hardware, application software) to ensure coherency with FW plans and interfaces
• Be the point of contact for internal stakeholders regarding JDM technical or program status and deliverables
• Be the Axon point of contact for the JDM, not just setting direction, but also for hands-on support in ensuring they are not blocked in continuously executing and delivering high quality outputs
• Design and/or implement systems, workflows, and automations (CI/CD, automated unit, integration, and end-to-end tests) where necessary to facilitate the cooperation of Axon and JDM teams
• Actively seek to understand customer use-cases and perspective to drive product excellence
• Keep an eye out for quality and operational excellence - ensuring code is well-instrumented, allowing for in-field metrics and dashboarding, and ensuring every feature is well tested from unit tests, to integration and end-to-end tests
• Be an active participant in reviewing Product Requirement Documents (PRD) and writing System Requirement Documents (SRD), Firmware Requirement Documents (FRD), and Test Requirement Documents (TRD)
• Write clear, concise updates for regular (weekly, monthly) business and program reviews
• Be a team player, mentor, strong communicator and be ready and willing to support the team when needed

What You Bring

• Track record of taking products to production with at least 8 years of experience
• Fluency in both Embedded Linux (primary) BSP and Firmware
• Strong technical acumen and obsession for the firmware details that matter to build products
• Experience with C/C++ on Linux
• Ability to read and understand Rust and Go is a plus, but not required
• Experience with some combination of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular LTE or 5G, 900MHz wireless technologies
• Experience with complex embedded systems development kits and environments
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage projects to a high degree of resolution using state of art project management processes and tools
• Commanding understanding of how hardware-software products are managed, gated, and manufactured
• Ability to collaborate in APAC or European time-zone hours as-needed (this role has flexible working hours)
• Strong cross-functional communication skills with the ability to get things done
• Fluency in English with strong, concise, technical writing and diagramming skills
• Obsession with quality
• Fluency in Mandarin is a plus, but is not required

Benefits that Benefit You

• Competitive salary and 401k with employer match
• Discretionary paid time off
• Paid parental leave for all
• Medical, Dental, Vision plans
• Fitness Programs
• Emotional & Mental Wellness support
• Learning & Development programs
• And yes, we have snacks in our offices

Benefits listed herein may vary depending on the nature of your employment and the location where you work.

The Pay: Axon is a total compensation company, meaning compensation is made up of base pay, bonus, and stock awards. The starting base pay for this role is between USD 141,000 in the lowest geographic market and USD 225,600 in the highest geographic market. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: level, function, training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, geographic market, and often a combination of all these factors. Our benefits offer an array of options to help support you physically, financially and emotionally through the big milestones and in your everyday life. To see more details on our benefits offerings please visit

Axon is a total compensation company, meaning compensation is made up of base pay, bonus, and stock awards. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: level, function, training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, geographic market, and often a combination of all these factors. Our benefits offer an array of options to help support you physically, financially and emotionally through the big milestones and in your everyday life. To see more details on our benefits offerings please visit

Base Pay Range

$141,000-$225,600 USD

Don't meet every single requirement? That's ok. At Axon, we Aim Far. We think big with a long-term view because we want to reinvent the world to be a safer, better place. We are also committed to building diverse teams that reflect the communities we serve.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they check every box in the job description. If you're excited about this role and our mission to Protect Life but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification listed here, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Important Notes

The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all duties, responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. The job description may change or be supplemented at any time in accordance with business needs and conditions.

Some roles may also require legal eligibility to work in a firearms environment.

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Axon's mission is to Protect Life and is committed to the well-being and safety of its employees as well as Axon's impact on the environment. All Axon employees must be aware of and committed to the appropriate environmental, health, and safety regulations, policies, and procedures. Axon employees are empowered to report safety concerns as they arise and activities potentially impacting the environment.

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