Lead Firmware Engineer

Eaton's ES AMER PCS division is currently seeking a Lead Firmware Engineer. This is a hybrid role that will take place out of our office in Moon Township, PA (Pittsburgh). We are able to offer relocation assistance for qualified candidates within the United States.

The Lead Firmware Engineer is an innovative problem-solver that will design firmware for electronic trip units used in circuit breakers for the Power Components Division. You will have the opportunity to work with a dynamic global team to design and improve trip units and their capabilities. You will work with a team of dedicated engineers and experience the excitement of bringing new products to life from design concept through to production launch. You will be responsible for the design and development of embedded software for Eaton's family of circuit breakers. This includes creating functionality related to hardware drivers, protection, metering, communication, power electronics, and user interface.

The expected annual salary range for this role is $97000 - $143000 a year.

Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

What you'll do:

• Lead the design, development, integration, and testing of embedded firmware for microcontroller-based products.

• Contribute to firmware architecture and design decisions while providing technical leadership within project teams.

• Plan and coordinate firmware development tasks, creating robust and trackable execution plans aligned with project objectives.

• Review own work and participate in formal design, code, and quality reviews while providing constructive feedback to peers.

• Mentor and support other engineers in firmware design, development, debugging, and testing activities.

• Develop reliable, maintainable, and reusable firmware components using C/C++, RTOS, and embedded communication protocols.

• Perform technical investigations and root cause analysis to resolve product, customer, manufacturing, and field issues.

• Collaborate with hardware, systems, quality, cybersecurity, manufacturing, and test engineering teams throughout product development.

• Support firmware verification, validation, and system-level testing activities to meet quality and reliability objectives.

• Develop and maintain automated test tools, verification suites, and stress-testing capabilities.

Qualifications:

Required (Basic) Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related engineering discipline from an accredited institution.

• Minimum of 3 years of experience leading firmware development activities and contributing to firmware architecture and design decisions for embedded products.

• Minimum 7 years of hands-on experience in embedded firmware/software development, including multi-controller systems utilizing C/C++. These experiences must include:

• Demonstrated proficiency in architecting and implementing embedded firmware solutions across RTOS-based and bare-metal environments.

• Strong capabilities with embedded peripherals and interfaces including ADC, PWM, UART, SPI, I2C, DMA, GPIO, and interrupt-driven systems.

• Proven experience debugging and resolving complex hardware-software integration and system-level issues.

• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment, immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related engineering discipline from an accredited institution.

Skills:

• Experience providing technical guidance and mentoring engineers within project teams.

• Experience with Agile development methodologies, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing frameworks, and DevOps practices.

• Strong understanding of software architecture, design patterns, and maintainable embedded software frameworks.

• Experience with source control systems and collaborative development workflows.

• Hands-on experience with unit testing, white-box testing, black-box testing, integration testing, and automated regression testing.

• Working knowledge of embedded cybersecurity principles, secure development practices, and functional safety requirements.

• Experience investigating and resolving complex system-level issues while collaborating with multidisciplinary engineering teams.

• Familiarity with multitasking firmware concepts, preferably using Zephyr RTOS or similar real-time operating systems.

• Experience with safety-critical product development and compliance standards such as UL and IEC.

• Experience developing automation and test tools using Python, Bash, or similar scripting languages.

• Proven experience debugging embedded systems using JTAG, SWD, In-Circuit Emulators (ICE), oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and protocol analyzers.

• Experience developing firmware for power distribution, circuit protection, or industrial control products.

• Familiarity with current sensing technologies including Rogowski coils, current transformers (CTs), shunt-based current sensing, and associated signal conditioning techniques.

• Experience implementing protection algorithms and real-time monitoring functions such as overcurrent, short-circuit, ground fault, and thermal protection.

Soft Skills:

• Excellent interpersonal, collaboration, and verbal/written communication skills.

• Ability to provide technical guidance, mentor peers, and support team development.

• Strong problem-solving skills and a data-driven approach to engineering decisions.

• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics and hardware designs.

• Proficiency with digital oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and embedded debugging tools.

• Strong understanding of embedded software architecture, modular design, and software quality principles.

• Proficiency in technical documentation, requirements management, and documentation tools such as Atlassian Confluence and Jira.

• Ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams and contribute to technical decision-making.

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You do not need to disclose your conviction history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if Eaton is concerned about conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report.

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