Embedded Linux Software Team Lead

Firestorm•San Diego, CA

6d•$140,000 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Firestorm is seeking an Embedded Linux Software Team Lead to join their team. This role reports to the Flight Systems Software Lead and collaborates with autonomy, avionics, and applications software teams to develop robust, secure applications for defense missions. The position also involves interfacing with mechanical and electrical engineering teams during product design to ensure software compatibility. The role is a blend of management and individual contribution, focusing on designing and delivering Linux-based applications for media, radio, communications, SDKs, and other Linux system daemons. Responsibilities include overseeing and contributing to the development of C/C++ system services, implementing REST-based and other APIs, and ensuring interoperability with industry and defense standards while meeting security and performance requirements.

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.
Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
5+ years of experience in embedded systems and Linux development in modern C/C++.
2+ years of experience leading a team with people management.
Proven experience creating and maintaining Linux daemons with systemd integration.
Strong integration background with real-time or mission-critical systems (5+ years) including async/event-driven networking (TCP/UDP, REST, WebSockets, DDS/gRPC/ZeroMQ).
Familiarity with industry/defense protocols and standards (e.g., RAS-A, MAVLink, STANAG 4586, OMS/UCI, Link 16) and data serialization (Protobuf/FlatBuffers).
Expertise in secure coding and dependency hygiene (OpenSSL, libsodium, memory safety, fuzzing, sanitizers).
Cross-platform build and packaging: CMake, Conan/vcpkg; Linux (deb/rpm/AppImage, systemd), Windows (MSVC/MinGW, windeploy/MSI/MSIX), Android (Gradle/JNI/APK signing).
Excellent problem-solving and communication skills; comfortable driving features end-to-end (requirements → design → implementation → testing → release).

Nice To Haves

Experience troubleshooting hardware bringup and the use of oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, etc.
Experience with the Linux kernel and drivers, building, and deployment thereof
Experience with ROS 2 (rclcpp/DDS), gRPC, ZeroMQ, and protocol gateways/bridges.
Knowledge of telemetry pipelines and observability for SDKs (structured logs, metrics, distributed tracing).
Experience in embedded/Linux environments (Yocto/Buildroot, cross-compilation, OTA updates) and constrained targets.
Performance tuning and profiling across languages (perf, VTune, Valgrind, sanitizers) and build/toolchain optimization.
Experience developing to MIL-STD/DO-178C or similar safety/security standards.
Track record of mentoring peers, conducting code reviews, and enforcing modern C++/API best practices.

Responsibilities

Team management, facilitating standup meetings, scrummaster, task prioritization and scheduling and architecture and design review
Work across engineering disciplines to ensure software compatibility and capability with product design and requirements
Design and implement Linux core daemons in modern C++.
Define clean, versioned REST APIs (SemVer, deprecation strategy) and deliver software application packages, installers, and artifacts across Linux, Windows, and Android (e.g., deb/AppImage, MSI/MSIX, AAR/APK add-ons).
Own the developer experience: samples, quickstarts, idiomatic wrappers, error models, logging/telemetry hooks, and clear documentation that make integration fast and intuitive.
Engineer for real-time and mission-critical use: deterministic behavior, back-pressure, zero-copy paths, bounded latencies, and graceful degradation on CPU/GPU-constrained hardware.
Harden security by default: memory-safe patterns, least-privilege design, secure transport (OpenSSL/libsodium), key/material handling, and supply-chain integrity for third-party deps.
Build reliability into CI/CD: cross-platform builds (CMake, Conan/vcpkg), automated unit/integration tests (Catch2/GoogleTest, pytest, JUnit, NUnit), fuzzing, sanitizers, codegen validation.
Collaborate across teams and with partners to gather requirements, refine APIs, and support field integrations; contribute to platform-wide architecture and roadmap discussions.
Contribute to operability: diagnostics, tracing, metrics, compatibility matrices, and upgrade playbooks for customers in the field.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
Equity grants for new hires
Unlimited PTO
Extremely generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in November & December
Generous Parental Leave
Lifestyle Spending Account
FSA
DCFSA
HSA
Hospital Indemnity insurance
Critical Illness insurance
Accident insurance
Basic Life/AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance, 100% covered by Firestorm. Plus, the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your family.
Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy and more. Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, are available to you as well.