Firmware Engineer III

Firefly Aerospace•Cedar Park, TX

20d

About The Position

Firefly Aerospace is seeking a Firmware Engineer III to help design, develop, test, and integrate embedded flight software for spacecraft. The engineer will work with a group of software engineers throughout the spacecraft software development process and collaborate with other engineering teams. The role focuses on embedded firmware for microcontrollers and microprocessors in bare-metal or RTOS environments, including low-level drivers, communication protocols, and system-level firmware for real-time applications. The engineer will work with hardware engineers on system architecture and integration, optimize firmware for resource-limited systems, and contribute to code quality, documentation, debugging, profiling, and validation. Optional work includes supporting FPGA integration or contributing to custom operating system builds using tools such as Yocto or Buildroot.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
5+ years of professional experience in embedded firmware development in Linux environments.
Proven track record of delivering real-world industry projects involving embedded firmware developed as bare-metal or RTOS applications, such as FreeRTOS or Zephyr.
Strong programming skills in C/C++ for embedded systems.
Experience with communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, USB, and Ethernet, and with real-time system constraints.
Familiarity with debugging tools such as JTAG, SWD, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers, and with embedded development environments.
Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations, to conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations including ITAR.

Nice To Haves

Experience with assembly language.
Experience developing C++ applications for embedded systems.
Proficiency in CI/CD workflow development for embedded firmware projects, such as TeamCity or GitLab CI.
Experience with FPGA development, including firmware integration with FPGA designs.
Familiarity with custom OS builds using Yocto, Buildroot, or similar embedded Linux build systems.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and test embedded firmware for microcontrollers and microprocessors in bare-metal or RTOS environments.
Architect and implement low-level drivers, communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, and CAN, and system-level firmware for real-time applications.
Collaborate with hardware engineers to define system architecture, debug hardware/firmware interactions, and ensure seamless integration.
Optimize firmware for power efficiency, performance, and memory constraints in resource-limited embedded systems.
Participate in code reviews, maintain high-quality code standards, and document firmware designs and processes.
Contribute to system-level debugging, performance profiling, and validation of embedded systems.
Optionally support FPGA integration, including firmware interfacing with FPGA designs, or contribute to custom OS builds using tools such as Yocto or Buildroot.