Senior Firmware Engineer

About You

You’re a firmware engineer who thrives at the boundary between hardware and software. You write clean, efficient, reliable C++ code that interacts directly with real-world systems - and you care deeply about correctness, timing, and failure modes.

You’re comfortable working close to the metal: microcontrollers, embedded Linux systems, device drivers, communication buses, and hardware interfaces. You debug with oscilloscopes, logs, and intuition. You understand that firmware is not just code - it’s the behavior of the machine.

You take ownership of systems end-to-end - from hardware bring-up to production deployment - and you design firmware that is testable, observable, and resilient in the field. You have strong judgment about trade-offs between performance, safety, and complexity.

You want to work on systems where reliability is non-negotiable and where your code directly controls machines operating in the real world.

What you will own

As a Senior Firmware Engineer, you will design and build the core systems that power AIM’s autonomous machines and global fleet operations.

Architect & Build Firmware Systems

• Design and implement firmware for AIM’s Generation 2 hardware platform using C++.
• Develop low-level drivers, hardware abstraction layers (HAL), and system services.
• Build robust interfaces to sensors, actuators, ECUs, and communication buses (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet).
• Ensure deterministic behavior across real-time and near-real-time control paths.

Deliver Production-Ready Firmware

• Write clean, efficient, testable embedded C++ code.
• Implement robust error handling, watchdogs, and fail-safe mechanisms.
• Build firmware that is resilient to hardware faults, communication loss, and environmental variability.
• Contribute to firmware standards, architecture, and coding practices.

Improve System Reliability & Observability

• Design and implement telemetry, logging, and debugging capabilities for embedded systems.
• Diagnose complex system issues across firmware, hardware, and system integration boundaries.
• Drive root-cause analysis and eliminate recurring failures in field deployments.

Own Hardware Bring-Up & Integration

• Lead firmware bring-up for new hardware (Gen2 boards, daughterboards, interposers).
• Work closely with Electrical and Mechanical Engineering to validate designs and interfaces.
• Support validation efforts including HIL testing, regression testing, and field validation.

Drive Performance & Real-Time Behavior

• Optimize timing, memory usage, and CPU utilization across embedded systems.
• Ensure real-time constraints are met for control and safety-critical paths.
• Balance system performance with robustness and maintainability.

Raise the Engineering Bar

• Mentor engineers on embedded systems, firmware design, and debugging techniques.
• Improve firmware development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and testing frameworks.
• Establish best practices for firmware reliability, safety, and maintainability.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 5+ years of professional experience in firmware or embedded systems development.
• Strong C++ experience in embedded or systems programming environments.
• Experience developing firmware for microcontrollers or embedded Linux systems.
• Experience with hardware interfaces and communication protocols (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet).
• Strong debugging skills across hardware/software boundaries.
• Experience designing systems for reliability, safety, and real‑world deployment.
• Proven ability to deliver production‑quality firmware in cross‑functional environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with safety‑critical systems or real‑time embedded systems.
• Experience with robotics, autonomy, or heavy equipment systems.
• Familiarity with RTOS or real‑time scheduling concepts.
• Experience with hardware bring‑up and board‑level debugging.
• Experience with firmware update mechanisms (OTA, bootloaders, secure updates).
• Experience with observability in embedded systems (logging, tracing, telemetry).
• Familiarity with HIL testing, validation frameworks, or hardware test automation.
• Experience working in high‑reliability or high‑entropy environments.

How you’ll stand out

• You design firmware that is simple, deterministic, and highly reliable.
• You think in terms of systems - not just code - and understand machine behavior end‑to‑end.
• You bring a strong safety mindset and anticipate failure modes before they occur.
• You debug issues others can’t - across firmware, hardware, and system interactions.
• You raise engineering rigor through clarity, ownership, and high standards.
• You connect firmware decisions directly to machine performance and customer outcomes.

What we offer

• Opportunity to build firmware that directly controls autonomous heavy machinery in the real world.
• High‑impact ownership of AIM’s Generation 2 hardware platform.
• Collaboration with world‑class engineers across hardware, software, autonomy, and field operations.
• Competitive compensation, equity, medical/dental/vision, 401(k), life insurance.
• Travel opportunities to real‑world jobsites across the U.S. and globally.