Embedded Software Engineer
About The Position
Icarus was founded on the belief that the Stratosphere is the Forgotten Frontier and that reclaiming it will define the next era of aerospace and what is possible from the sky. We build solar-powered aircraft that fly at 60,000 ft for weeks at a time, delivering persistent, affordable, and scalable presence from this layer of the atmosphere. Mission Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere. What you’ll do Build and ship flight-critical embedded software for long-endurance stratospheric aircraft Own embedded subsystems end to end: architecture, implementation, bring-up, debugging, test, and flight validation Write firmware for MCU-based avionics, sensors, actuators, power systems, and comms interfaces Integrate sensors and peripherals (IMU, GNSS, air data, magnetometer, servos, radios) and build reliable drivers and middleware Design robust telemetry, logging, and health monitoring to support long-duration autonomous operations Build test harnesses, HIL hooks, and automation that makes iteration loops faster Support integration, production bring-up, and flight ops in the desert
Requirements
- 1+ years working with real embedded systems — professional experience, internships or research (aerospace, robotics, automotive, defense, or similarly high-reliability domains)
- Strong C/C++ fundamentals and comfort working close to hardware
- Experience with RTOS or bare-metal firmware, interrupts, timing, and deterministic systems
- Experience with common embedded interfaces and protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, Ethernet)
- Strong debugging skills using scopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, and real-world fault reproduction
- Comfort moving fast, owning outcomes, and troubleshooting in the field
Responsibilities
- Build and ship flight-critical embedded software for long-endurance stratospheric aircraft
- Own embedded subsystems end to end: architecture, implementation, bring-up, debugging, test, and flight validation
- Write firmware for MCU-based avionics, sensors, actuators, power systems, and comms interfaces
- Integrate sensors and peripherals (IMU, GNSS, air data, magnetometer, servos, radios) and build reliable drivers and middleware
- Design robust telemetry, logging, and health monitoring to support long-duration autonomous operations
- Build test harnesses, HIL hooks, and automation that makes iteration loops faster
- Support integration, production bring-up, and flight ops in the desert
Benefits
- Meaningful equity
- Top market salary and bonuses
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Factory in El Segundo
- Real ownership, real hardware, real flight
- Small team, massive responsibility
- High signal (engineering) to noise (management) culture
- Dream desk setup
- Daily lunch
- Unlimited celsius
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
